Go, Soccer Player, Go!
by anad
Summary: Hikaru only ever wants to play soccer. Then he met Sai, a go-playing ghost from the Heian period. ATTENTION: ON HIATUS
1. Go Ghost

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 1: Go Ghost_

_..._

Twelve-year-old Shindo Hikaru had arrived at his grandfather's house with a plan.

"You promised, Jii-chan!" Hikaru exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger. "I made good on the deal, so now it's your turn!"

Shindo Heihachi sighed, not that disturbed to be at the end of his grandson's pointing finger.

"Hikaru, I just bought you that fancy notebook for your schoolwork. That was a lot of money."

"But that was for my birthday." Hikaru pouted, before adding with tired exasperation. "And it's called a _lap-top com-pu-ter_, Jii-chan."

Heihachi rolled his eyes at his grandson's foolishness. The salesperson had called it a "notebook" when he had been shopping for it. It was called a notebook to him.

"Besides, what kind of birthday gift was that anyway? You bought it for doing homework!"

"A very expensive one." Heihachi huffed grumpily under his breath.

"And my birthday was in September!" Hikaru continued, deciding not to hear his grandfather's cheap-skate ways. "That was forever ago. And mom and dad didn't even give me extra pocket money for making MVP. At least you cared, Jii-chan. I won't be able to live if you don't make good on your promise now."

Heihachi shook his grandson off of him, but Hikaru knew that he already had his grandfather in the bag with the no pocket money bit.

He put on his best attack face just to make sure though.

Heihachi sighed again. He was helpless against the puppy dog eyes, especially since his grandson was still so small and short.

"Fine, fine. Like I promised, you can pick out one thing from the storehouse. I suppose your grandpa can't let your MVP award from your soccer team go uncelebrated."

"Yay! Jii-chan is the best!" Hikaru cheered.

Heihachi just chuckled, watching his grandson scramble up and run for the storehouse. Well, he supposed most of that stuff had just been gathering dust anyway.

* * *

What Hikaru needed the most was money. But his pocket money was given out based on his grades in school, and that was probably the worst system ever. But even worse than that, his parents had forbidden both Hikaru and his grandfather from giving Hikaru any money, even as an award for his accomplishments.

His grandfather had had to resort to more creative ways of awarding Hikaru since then. Even parents couldn't deny a grandfather's right to give gifts to his beloved grandson, after all.

Of course, this arrangement still didn't get Hikaru any money. But at least he would have an expensive...thing even if he didn't have any money.

"Jeez!" Hikaru mussed up his hair in frustration. "There's nothing in here but broken pots and ugly scrolls!"

Throwing aside the latest piece of junk (according to him), Hikaru moved deeper towards the back of the upper story. He had thought that all of the good stuff would be near the front too.

"Hey, a goban!" Hikaru exclaimed, crawling towards the vaguely-familiar shape.

"It looks old too! Must be one Jii-chan used a long time ago. Probably during his regional go champion days." Hikaru snickered, holding back a snort of laughter.

Hikaru plopped down in front of the goban and began to wipe off the dust with his sleeve. He easily located two bowls of go stones placed nearby.

"Hmm..." Hikaru looked closer at the wood. "Maybe Jii-chan stopped using this because of this blood stain."

Hikaru traced the dark mark with his fingertip.

"Can you even get blood out of wood? Stupid stain."

He wiped harder, wondering whether or not applying some of his spit would work better.

"_Can you hear my voice?"_

"Huh?" Hikaru jerked his head behind him. He had thought he heard something.

"_You can hear my voice, can't you?"_

"Who is it? Jii-chan?" Hikaru shot up, wildly looking around. "Come out and stop playing your stupid joke, Jii-chan!"

"_You can! You can! Oh, benevolent Kami-sama, I thank you."_

Hikaru turned around...

...and saw a ghost.

"AHH!" Hikaru screamed.

"_I will now return."_

"_Return to the world of the living."_

Hikaru fell with a thud onto the floor.

When he regained consciousness, he would find that he really had no choice but to become the owner of an antique goban.

...

**Author's Notes:**

This is my first fanfiction! Yay!

Also, I don't have a beta reader, so please excuse any mistakes. Also, this story was partially inspired by the fanfiction "Go? But I'm A Soccer Player!" (Oh, _you'll_ see).

I just thought it would be fun to write Hikaru as a dedicated soccer player. But I feel as if this first chapter was kind of rushed. I wanted to establish the premise quickly, so I wrote this chapter very quickly. I'm kind of unhappy about that, but it's not all that different from what happened in the canon and I don't like to waste time.


	2. Community Go Class

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 2: Community Go Class_

...

Hikaru resisted the urge to vomit again. Once had been enough. And it was bad enough that it had happened in class...during a test...and on the shirt of his classmate!

"Sai! I told you already, we don't have any money!"

"What does that have to do with playing go, Hikaru?" Sai wept elegantly into his sleeve. "You don't need money to play go."

"You don't because you're a ghost, but go parlors and stuff costs money," replied Hikaru, grabbing at his hair. "Even if there are only old geezers there, we still have to pay money."

"But I want to play go, Hikaru! Go! _Hi-ka-ru!_ Go!"

Hikaru groaned. Go-obsessed ghosts from the Heian period were so troublesome!

"I've already begged Kaa-chan and Jii-chan and all we got from that was Jii-chan telling us we could play him whenever we want and Kaa-chan signing us up for the community go class." Hikaru violently scrubbed at his hair, ready to tear it out from sheer frustration. "You'll just have to be happy playing me for now."

"But Hikaru is always busy playing _saa-kaa_. _Saa-kaa_ this. _Saa-kaa_ that. You never have time to play go with me, Hikaru!" Sai wept into both sleeves now.

Hikaru felt a vein pop somewhere along his temple. However many times he had explained it already, Hikaru somehow just knew that Sai still did not understand anything he was saying.

"It's soccer, Sai! Soccer! And I need to practice or I'll lose all of my skills. I'm going to become the most famous soccer player in Japan one day. I can't slack off just to play go!"

Sai only wept harder, which only made Hikaru want to vomit more. And learning from previous experience, he immediately aimed his head into the bushes.

"_I play with you every day!"_ Hikaru switched to thinking loudly at Sai since he was grasping his mouth with both hands. _"I'm even learning to play so I can be a better opponent. Geez, Sai—"_

"Hikaru, what are you doing?"

Immediately, Hikaru and Sai leapt to their feet.

"Akari! Don't scare me like that!" Hikaru shouted, thumping his fist against his chest in an effort to get his heart to slow down.

"I didn't!" Akari shouted back defensively. "You're the one being weird, crouching in the middle of the street and looking into the bushes!"

"Che. Whatever, Akari." Hikaru waved away his actions dismissively. "It's not as if I was doing anything illegal or something."

Akari shot him a concerned look but didn't say anything more on the subject. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her back and pouted. To anyone else, this would have resulted in feelings of guilt. To Hikaru, it was a wasted effort.

"Oi, Akari," Hikaru blinked at her. "What are you doing here anyway? We're kinda far from our houses."

Akari beamed at him. "My mom signed me up for the community go class too."

"Huh?" Hikaru stared at her with open disbelief. "Did you get in trouble or something?"

"Of course not!" Akari exclaimed. "But your mom said that you were excited about it, so I asked my mom to sign me up. I want to have fun too!"

"Then you should play soccer! Soccer!" Hikaru exclaimed, waving his arms around to emphasize the importance of his words.

"No, Hikaru! You should play go!" Sai cried out from beside him, waving his arms around too.

Moaning at his own misery, Hikaru just gave up on the whole argument. Akari looked at him strangely then, but seemed to attribute it as Hikaru's usual weird behavior.

"I'm not good at sports like you are." Akari reminded him, frowning. "And since I can't play soccer with you, I thought that I would play go."

Hikaru scoffed, sticking his hands into his pockets and kicking at the ground. Akari was so weird. Even if he really wanted to hang out with a friend, he wouldn't do something as stupid as tag along to a go class.

"But I was surprised when my mom told me. How come you're suddenly so interested in go, Hikaru?" Akari asked curiously. "I've never heard you say anything about go before, but you always go on and on about soccer."

Hikaru froze, glancing stiffly to his right where Sai was standing. But Sai looked just as alarmed as Hikaru was. And Hikaru at least knew that standing around just staring at Akari would have seemed suspicious.

"Why do I need a reason to be interested?" Hikaru nearly shouted at Akari. "Jii-chan is a regional amateur go champion. He's always bothering me to learn. And it's a strategy game. Yeah! That's right! I'm learning strategy. They say that game strategy is just as important to soccer players as training and practice. How am I going to become the greatest soccer player in Japan if I don't know game strategy? So I need to learn go, obviously!"

Hikaru took a deep breath, hoping that his rambling excuse made somewhat sense.

Then he saw Akari's face and knew that she was going to pester him until he spilled his guts. So, Hikaru did the first thing to pop into his head. It was the same thing he did to everyone when he didn't want to talk to them.

"Hurry up, Akari! We're going to be late for go class if we just keep standing around."

Hikaru took off down the street. He did not bother to wait for a reply.

"Hikaru! Slow down!" Akari cried out from somewhere in the distance behind him.

Hikaru ran faster. Akari would catch up. They were going to the same place anyway.

* * *

"Geez...Akari's...slow." Hikaru panted from the doorway, bracing his hands on his knees.

Meanwhile, Sai happily looked around the lobby of the building where the community go class was held.

"Hikaru, is this where we'll play go? We'll finally play go, won't we, Hikaru?"

Hikaru didn't even bother to answer that. Instead, he trudged over to the nearest drink machine and pulled out his pocket looking for coins.

Well, at least Sai's happiness was just as infectious to Hikaru as the vomiting.

"Hikaru! Hikaru!" Sai's over-excited voice bounded up to him.

Hikaru grunted as Sai leapt over him to look at whatever Hikaru had been doing.

"What is this marvel?" Sai stared in front of him with interest.

"It's a vending machine." Hikaru replied disinterestedly. "You get drinks from it."

As Sai turned back to stare at Hikaru incomprehensively, Hikaru finally found enough change for a sports drink. He deposited the money with a grimace, but hit the correct selection without hesitation.

"Hikaru! Something appeared!"

Hikaru chugged down the can with a sigh of satisfaction, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

Well, he was in a pretty good mood right now. Hikaru thought that he would indulge the ghost.

"Hehe, if you thought that was impressive..."

Hikaru dug out the last of his change, counting out the correct amount and stuffing the lint back into his pocket where it belonged.

"What are you doing, Hikaru?" Sai asked him, looking down at the little coins of different sizes. Sai had never really understood money. He knew what it was, but had never needed it much even when he was alive.

Hikaru just grinned, slapping the button on the next machine.

"Hikaru! A cup came out!"

"Hikaru! A drink is being poured!"

"Hikaru! This machine knew when to stop pouring into the cup!"

Hikaru let Sai have his fun. He left the Heian ghost going every which way around the vending machines.

He looked around and caught sight of a TV in another corner. But it had been set on a channel about go. Hikaru looked away pretty quickly.

Before he became bored with the lack of interesting things to do in the lobby however, Akari came panting through the door.

"Hikaru!" Akari shouted. "Stop leaving me behind!"

"I can't help it if I'm fast." Hikaru replied automatically.

But he did feel a little bad having run off like that. Besides, she might start asking questions again if he didn't distract her with something.

"Here, you can have this, Akari."

Hikaru shoved the drink the machine had poured for Sai into Akari's hands as a way of apology.

Akari had to stare down at the dark liquid for a second before she even recognized what Hikaru had given her.

"Ehh? But Hikaru, I don't like coffee!"

"Well, I don't drink coffee!" Hikaru exclaimed the obvious.

Akari frowned down at the Styrofoam cup in her hand. It wasn't like Hikaru to waste money by hitting the wrong selection. But then again, it wasn't like Hikaru to buy her a drink at all.

Hikaru felt sorry, sure. But between Sai and Akari, he had reached the end of his patience.

"Hikaru! Hikaru!" Sai spoke up urgently. "We're going to be late for class."

Hikaru let the ghost push him onwards with a sigh. He really wanted to point out that Sai didn't even know where they were going. But in his new crazy life, it was actually easier to lead the way while letting Sai push him from behind.

And Hikaru almost forgot about Akari. He turned to shout behind him before he and Sai really left her behind.

"Let's go!"

...

**Author's Notes: **

Touya is not in this story yet! He's one of my favorite characters, but I changed Hikaru's character and he's a cheapskate now. It just wouldn't make sense for him to go to a go parlor and spend money to play. But Touya will become an important character though, Cheapskate Soccer-Player Hikaru or not.


	3. Tryout Invitation

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 3: Tryout Invitation_

_..._

To his right, the player from the other team nearest to him was shouting loudly at his teammates to catch Hikaru. To his left, one of Hikaru's teammates had intercepted an opponent but they had crashed into one another and tumbled onto the ground.

Hikaru leapt over the confusion of the tumble, sighing with relief as the ball he had kicked sailed over the two players rolling around the ground by a wide margin.

There was one of his teammates in front of him. Hikaru could pass the ball. But his teammate was waving his arms and frantically shaking his head to let Hikaru know not to pass to him.

It was all up to Hikaru now then. He was ready to accept that responsibility.

Hikaru rushed forward and kicked to the right.

The goalie for the other team reacted quickly, throwing his entire body towards Hikaru's right.

And the ball hit the net at Hikaru's left, where it had been left wide open.

The goalie blinked.

Hikaru blinked.

"_WHY?!"_ Hikaru shouted to Sai in his head, clenching his head in agony as he fell onto his knees.

Along the sidelines, Sai grimaced from behind his fan.

Meanwhile, Hikaru's teammates and even members from the opposite team had run up and crowded around Hikaru to whoop and cheer the end of the game. In their eyes, Hikaru had fallen to his knees at the relief of victory.

"We won!"

"The team with Shindo always wins."

"Yeah! He's our MVP after all."

Hikaru chuckled awkwardly and stood up. He dusted the grass and dirt from his knees, accepting all of the cheers and congratulations with a grin.

One of the guys from Hikaru's school team knew a guy from another school's soccer team. Both had rounded up enough guys from their teams for a quick game. And Hikaru had jumped at the chance, since they had never played against each other before.

"That was a great kick in the end, Shindo. It really looked like you were aiming right."

Hikaru winced, but managed to cover it up with a laugh.

"Yep. It sure did." Hikaru grinned back at the others easily. He definitely wasn't going to explain that it was just a fluke mistake they had witnessed. That would be lame.

"That's what Shindo's known for." One of his teammates informed the others. "You never know where the ball's gonna go."

"Wow! Shindo, you have to teach me that."

"Me too!"

"Man, I would love to have ball control like that."

Hikaru just smiled and let them go on. He was used to this already. He supposed he just had a natural ability to change his mistakes into wins. Either that or he was just really, really lucky.

"Hikaru," Sai peered down at him from above all of his friends. "Your friends appear to think you have done that on purpose."

Hikaru thought back to the ghost with a wave of his hand,

"_It just happens like that, Sai."_

Sai looked at Hikaru with blank incomprehension.

"Hey, Shindo! What do you call your kick?" One of the boys asked, miming a kick with great enthusiasm.

"I hope you didn't name it something dumb like the Shindo Kick."

Everyone laughed. And Hikaru laughed with them.

"_What's so dumb about the Shindo Kick?"_ Hikaru thought to Sai. _"The only better name would be the Shindo Hikaru Kick. Ne, Sai?"_

"That would be very vain of you to name it so, Hikaru." Sai admonished him sternly.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, casually leaning back with his hands behind his head. Sai was no fun sometimes.

"No way." Hikaru returned his attention to his friend. "That would be so lame. I have a little more imagination than that."

"Then what's it called?" The goalie Hikaru had scored on asked him directly.

"Err..." Hikaru rubbed at the back of his neck.

"_Sai! What's my kick called?"_

"I wouldn't know, Hikaru. I don't even really understand _saa-kaa_." Sai replied apologetically.

"_Argh! What's the point of having a ghost follow me around all the time anyway? You can't even help me name kicks."_

Sai's face crumbled. He actually did feel really bad about not having an answer now.

"I shall help you name that kick, Hikaru. How about the Go Kick?" Sai asked him, trying very hard to help.

"_Go Kick?"_ Hikaru exclaimed silently in horror. _"How did you even come up with that? It has nothing to do with soccer!"_

"But I like go, Hikaru!"

"_That's like me naming the kick the Soccer Kick! Try harder, Sai!"_

Hikaru only had to look over at Sai's unchanging expression to know that he wouldn't be receiving any more suggestions from the ghost. Sai obviously really liked "Go Kick" and didn't see anything wrong with the name.

"So what's it called, Shindo?"

Hikaru snapped back to attention. Everyone was staring at him.

"Err... It's called..." Hikaru answered, scratching at his head.

He glanced over at Sai. Sai obliviously and happily advocated his "Go Kick" suggestion.

Hikaru just glared at him. There was no way he was saying Go Kick!

"It's called...the...Ghost Kick?" Hikaru finished lamely, grimacing at how his answer sounded like a stupid question.

Everyone stared at him, and then turned to each other.

"Cool!"

"Shindo, that's a cool name."

"Yeah, the Ghost Kick."

Immediately sighing with relief, Hikaru then puffed his chest with pride.

"And I'm working on a newer, better kick." Hikaru continued, flushed from his save. "It'll be the greatest, most famous kick in all of Japan one day. I'm thinking of calling it the Phantom Kick."

"Awesome, Shindo!"

"That's so cool!"

"You better teach me the Phantom Kick, Shindo!"

Hikaru laughed aloud and lapped up all of the attention and praise. Sometimes, he thought that he was born to be in the spotlight. And for real, awesome achievements too, not that stupid stuff like being a pretty boy or something. He was going to be the most famous soccer player in Japan, someone who did cool and awesome stuff.

Unfortunately, some nagging voice broke through his own imaginations and the praise of everyone around him.

"Hikaru! _Hi-ka-ru!_"

"_What, Sai?"_ Hikaru turned to the ghost irritably.

"Your mother said to be home before dark." Sai replied worriedly, looking at how low the sun was getting to the ground.

"Ahh!" Hikaru exclaimed, breaking away from the others and grabbing his backpack from where he had thrown it onto the ground. "I gotta go guys! See you!"

There was a chorus of disappointment, but eventually they all said goodbye and then splintered off to go home too.

"Sai, you worry too much." Hikaru huffed as the pair slowed to a walk down the street. "It gets darker faster this time of year because it's winter. Kaa-chan won't mind if I'm out a little bit after dark."

"Still, Hikaru," said Sai. "You should heed the requests of your parents."

"Yeah, yeah," Hikaru dismissed him easily. "Whatever. I bet you just want to play go, Sai."

"Yes, Hikaru! Of course I want to play go!" Sai replied without hesitation. "Let us return home immediately and play go, Hikaru."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. Sai was so easy to figure out even he had done it.

* * *

"Kaa-chan! I'm home!" Hikaru announced as he burst in through the front door.

"I have returned." Sai announced beside Hikaru, much more sedately.

Hikaru really didn't even understand why Sai bothered, only he could hear him. But he guessed that Sai was just really well-mannered, having been a part of the Heian Emperor's court and everything.

"Welcome home, Hikaru," Shindo Mitsuko appeared from the doorway of the kitchen. "A letter came for you today. I put it on your desk."

"Thanks, Kaa-chan." Hikaru shouted behind him as he ran up the stairs.

Hikaru threw his backpack to the floor and kicked his soccer ball somewhere into the corner. He spotted the letter his mother was talking about on top of his favorite soccer magazine.

"What's that, Hikaru?" Sai questioned as he peered over Hikaru's shoulder.

Hikaru didn't answer. He only took one look at the envelope before he savagely ripped the paper apart and yanked out the letter inside.

His eyes nearly fell out of his head as he read over the letter in excited disbelief.

"Hikaru?" Sai asked, growing more and more alarmed by Hikaru's behavior. He was almost afraid that Hikaru would start foaming at the mouth.

"YATTA!" Hikaru shouted, throwing his arms back and letting the letter flutter above his head.

Sai watched as Hikaru began to leap and jump around his room.

"Hikaru? What are you doing up there?" Shindo Mitsuko shouted up the stairs.

Hikaru leapt for his door, standing at the top of the stairs and brandishing the letter proudly to his mother.

"Kaa-chan! I've just been invited to try out for the Tokyo team of the Japan Youth Soccer League!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Downstairs, Shindo Mitsuko only looked up at her son in complete incomprehension.

"Hikaru, what is this Tokyo team and Japan Youth thing?" Hikaru's mom asked.

"It's semi-pro, Kaa-chan! Semi-pro!" Hikaru shouted, not understanding why she didn't get the honor and prestige of this opportunity.

Beside him, Sai didn't understand any of this at all either.

Hikaru sighed with exasperation.

"It means I have the chance to play for a private team." Hikaru explained impatiently. "You only get to play for them if they invite you. And I hear they only invite MVPs to try out."

"Oh." Shindo Mitsuko replied. "So this has something to do with winning MVP."

"You don't win MVP, Kaa-chan!" Hikaru snapped. "You earn it!"

Shindo Mitsuko only nodded indulgently, moving back into the kitchen where she was preparing dinner. She understood just enough about Hikaru's sports to know that he was happy and excited. And that was enough for her.

Hikaru sighed and once again rolled his eyes as he went back into his room.

His parents never got soccer, no matter how many times he explained things to them. They were hopeless.

"Well, at least I've still got you, Sai." Hikaru said as he shut the door to his room, still peering down reverently at the letter in his hands.

"Hikaru! Let's play go now!" Sai demanded from where he was already seated in front of the goban in the middle of Hikaru's room.

Hikaru groaned.

Never mind. Hikaru had no one.

...

**Author's Notes:**

I don't actually know if Japan has a Youth League like the one I'm talking about in the story. But America has something like this, so I'm putting it in.


	4. Tokyo Team Tryouts

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 4: Tokyo Team Tryouts_

...

"Bye, Kaa-chan! I'm going to my tryouts now!"

"Good luck, Hikaru! And have a safe trip."

Hikaru shut the door and leapt down his front steps. His gear bag banged heavily against his hip, causing Hikaru to yelp and heed the painful reminder not to do that. But he was wearing his lucky soccer shirt today, the yellow and black one with his lucky number printed across the front. It was bound to be a lucky day.

"Ne, Hikaru," Sai spoke up from beside him. "Are we going to play go?"

Hikaru frowned. However, he had long ago realized that loudly shouting his answers did not get through to the go-obsessed ghost.

"I've told you already, Sai. My tryouts are today. It's for the Tokyo city team of the Japan Youth Soccer League! If I get in, I'll be semi-pro."

"But I still don't understand what semi-pro means, Hikaru." Sai replied, confused.

"It means almost pro." Hikaru replied seriously. "The players don't get paid, but it's a private team that has sponsors that pay for our kit, our practice field, our equipment, everything. You only get to play for them if they invite you. And I hear they only invite MVPs to try out."

"Oh." Sai replied slowly, looking very thoughtful for a moment.

Hikaru was surprised. This had turned out to be a relatively easy explanation this time around.

"So this means we're not going to be playing go." Sai sighed sadly.

Hikaru nearly burst from his irritation.

* * *

The practice area for the Tokyo team was more indoor stadium than regular field. There was an arena with hundreds of seats for an audience, and huge, bright lights that hung high above from the ceiling.

But the most impressive part was the soccer field right at the center of the stadium. The artificial turf was bright green and forever unmarred. It wasn't at all like the sporadically-cared-for, dirt-patched, sometimes-brown-and-dead field that Hikaru's soccer team used at the school.

Their goal posts weren't even chipped and dented like the goal posts at the school. They were pure white, newly-painted, with a new net strung from it. Sometimes, Hikaru and the other boys hadn't even played with nets!

After arriving and gawking at the stadium (even Sai had), Hikaru and the other boys he assumed he was trying out with had been shown to the team's locker room and shower. They had been told to just pick any of the free lockers in there for the day, before they were instructed to put on their gear and meet the coach on the field.

Hikaru had been too nervous and excited to make any small talk with the other guys in the locker room. Instead, he had just yanked open the door of the first locker he had seen and dumped his gear bag in there.

He hadn't needed to change either, having shown up in his school's soccer shorts and his favorite jersey. All he needed to do was put on his shin guards, lace up his cleats, and suddenly he was back out under those bright stadium lights.

Hikaru took a moment to just stare up at the lights as he walked out onto the field.

"Hikaru, never have I seen lights as bright as these." Sai said to him as they stood at the mouth of the tunnel. "Not even compared to the brightest of stars in the night sky from the time I was alive."

"Yeah, Sai." Hikaru replied distractedly. "Yeah."

One of the boys passed Hikaru, his distinctly-blue jersey catching Hikaru's eye as he walked past.

Most of the guys here were wearing their school's uniform. Hikaru grinned at the sight of someone wearing a J-League jersey.

He was about to comment on this to Sai, but quickly remembered that Sai wouldn't have any idea what Hikaru was talking about anyway. He just shook his head and followed the other kid towards where an adult with a clipboard was standing. Hikaru guessed he was the coach.

"Warm up!" The tall adult with the clipboard barked at them as he observed the handful of boys joining them from the locker room. He was definitely a soccer player.

"Everyone start warming up now as we wait for everyone to change."

Hikaru was surprised that they would begin right away. Well, he knew that they would begin _soon_, of course. But he had arrived at least half an hour early for tryouts and...actually, he wasn't sure what he had been expecting.

Immediately, Hikaru began his basic stretches from a random spot on the fake grass. He was pleasantly surprised that it almost felt just like real grass and dirt, only more spongy and springy.

"_Sai,"_ Hikaru thought to the ghost.

Sai was peering up at the lights still, not gawking, but admiring in a scholarly manner Hikaru was getting used to seeing.

Sai turned back to him expectantly, wondering why Hikaru would call him during his exercises. Hikaru usually preferred if Sai kept quiet if he were participating in such activities. Hikaru still blamed him for the volleyball to the face when Sai had spotted that giant metal bird in the sky.

"_I'm nervous, Sai."_ Hikaru admitted, eyes darting around the stadium. _"The coach...he seems like he's real serious. Not like my coach at school. He's always smiling and telling us to have fun."_

Sai looked over at the man currently surveying the field. His face, though young still, was stony, and his eyes fierce. Sai recognized the look.

"It is not aggression, Hikaru." Sai told him. "That is a look I have seen on many men. It is a look of years of experience and confidence in one's skills. He is a man who is serious about this sport, but not one who seeks to incite fear and press intimidation upon you."

Hikaru didn't respond. Sai's observations didn't much help him soothe his anxiety.

"You will do fine, Hikaru." Sai assured him. "You have been playing and practicing a lot since you got that letter. More than you should! We have not been able to play go as much as we could because you have been tired!"

Hikaru got up from the grass to begin his jogging.

"_Go, go, go! All you think about is go! Geez, Sai, what if I just went on and on about soccer as much as you did about go? I bet you would get even more annoyed than I do."_

"But Hikaru does go on and on about _saa-kaa_, even more so than I with go." Sai pouted, fanning himself quickly in irritation.

Hikaru just rolled his eyes.

"_Just go sit in the stands or something and watch. I don't want you distracting me during the most important tryouts of my life."_

"Hikaru is so mean!" Sai exclaimed dramatically. "I do not mean to distract you."

Hikaru just grunted and ran off, leaving Sai where he was standing.

Sai stilled and waited until Hikaru was far enough away to smile to himself.

The tension and anxiety from before had completely disappeared from his shoulders, and Sai had not missed this.

* * *

There were players advancing at the right of him. There were players advancing to the left of him. Hikaru had never run so hard and so fast in his life, but everyone out on the field was keeping up with him. This had never happened to him before.

Hikaru didn't even have the ball right now. The guy in front of him had it, and he was so fast that Hikaru's pride and joy of super speed and superior maneuverability was rendered useless. He couldn't pull out any good plays if he couldn't even overtake the guy!

Suddenly, a guy playing defender on Hikaru's team came out of nowhere and swiped away the ball. The ball was finally taken out of the other team's possession.

Hikaru mentally cheered his teammate as he quickly turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. He had to trust his teammates to keep control of the ball. Making himself available for a good pass was his job right now. But man, he really wanted to whoop for that great steal!

His faith was rewarded as the ball came flying for him, almost before he had even turned around completely to get a good vantage of the situation.

Hikaru's previous experience with the volleyball had him reacting quickly, leaping upwards and catching the ball with his chest rather than his face.

And then he was running for the other team's goal as fast as he could without stopping.

He had made a pretty good gap between him and most of the pack after the steal, but that gap was closing in on him even as he tore it to the other side of the field.

Hikaru promised himself that he would add more running to his training regimen. He promised himself first that he was going to start a training regimen!

The other team's defenders were rushing at him. Hikaru thanked whatever gods there may be that his maneuverability was as good as he thought it was as he feinted right before throwing his body left.

Along the way, he also passed the ball to his teammate coming up behind him, and ran clear of the two defenders as they switched targets.

Hikaru slid across the grass, cursing his old cleats and barely righting himself mid-motion before he ate artificial turf.

Ahead of him, his two teammates were head-to-head against the two defenders while eyeing the goal. Hikaru could almost feel the pounding of feet behind them as he threw himself into the fray. Hikaru didn't understand why they weren't passing the ball! This was no time to show off, idiots!

Hikaru was open and unguarded. And he was within his striking distance to the net.

The guy with the ball had no choice but to pass to him, not when he and the other guy were both pressured by the two defending players.

It was all up to him now. Hikaru was ready to accept the responsibility.

Hikaru kicked to his right.

The goalie saw it coming and leapt in that direction.

Hikaru nearly cried. This goalie was good enough to catch the ball. Their team hadn't been able to score on him the entire game.

So it was a good thing the ball hit the net at Hikaru's left, where it had been left wide open.

And Hikaru fell to his knees, blinking incomprehensively at his shot.

"Time!"

"Final Score: 1-1. Tie Game!"

Behind Hikaru, someone blew the whistle. There was a bunch of cheering. Hikaru only saw Sai dancing around comically along the sidelines.

"Alright, that's the end of tryouts. Everyone shower and go home. We'll have our decisions by the end of the week."

"Yes, Coach!" A couple dozen voices shouted simultaneously before running for the locker room.

Hikaru got up and started running with the other boys. But he set his face in determination midway, turned around, and jogged back to where the coach and the assistant coaches were standing.

The three adults turned to stare at him as Hikaru came to a stop in front of them.

"Um, uh...Coach, err, Coaches?" Hikaru rubbed at the back of his neck as he toed the grass nervously.

"Yes? Shindo, was it?" The coach, an athletic man who had once played professional soccer, stared down at Hikaru.

Hikaru gulped. He glimpsed Sai's concerned face in the corner of his vision, and forcibly he reminded himself that, at the very least, he wasn't really alone right now, standing in front of the man who probably didn't like him, but would be making the decision of his fate by the end of the week.

"Since I might not get onto the team, I wanted to ask you this now, while I still have the chance." Hikaru said, looking up at the man as seriously as he was able underneath all of his nervousness and anxiety and extreme fear.

"Yes? What is it?" Coach asked, eyeing Hikaru critically now.

"Is there anything wrong with my play?" Hikaru blurted.

He winced as Sai hit him on the head with his fan, scolding him for his rudeness.

"Um, I mean, are there any pointers you could give me? You know, to help me improve? I'm pretty short for my age, but I've been working on my speed. I don't have the worst maneuverability out on the field either. But my accuracy needs a lot of work, I know."

Hikaru reddened with embarrassment as he remembered that horrible pass he had made that had sailed over the head of his teammate.

The coach stared down at him silently for a moment. Hikaru had the feeling that he was being judged right now, although he wasn't sure what for. The two assistant coaches were silent as well, but looked to the head coach rather than Hikaru.

"You made the scoring kick for your team, Shindo." The coach said finally, eyeing Hikaru with an expression Hikaru wouldn't know how to begin to explain. "Your accuracy seems to be pretty good."

Hikaru grimaced. He really hated having to explain _that_. Sure, he didn't in front of the other guys. They would think he was lame. But this was the coach of the Tokyo team. Hikaru knew it would be better for his play if he just admitted it and maybe got some advice on it.

So, Hikaru swallowed his pride, took a deep breath, and just got it over with.

"I was just lucky, coach. I...uh...kicked it to the right, you see." Hikaru ended up mumbling, staring down at his feet. "I didn't mean for it to go left."

Sai knew that Hikaru couldn't see it, staring down at his feet like that. He was almost sure that Hikaru wouldn't even have correctly guessed it if he had seen it. But Sai, in his many more years of experience, recognized the look that appeared across the face of the man Hikaru clearly respected and trusted to help him improve.

It was the look of someone acknowledging another.

Coach Takahashi Ichiro wouldn't have been a good coach if he couldn't spot a lucky shot from one purposefully made by skill. And this year had been disappointing to him so far, as no one had really stood out from the pack. The boys were all good; they were all MVPs after all. Yet, there hadn't really been anyone of true talent or prodigious skill in this year's tryouts.

But, slowly, Coach Takahashi's stern expression softened and he flipped through his notes looking for anything he had noticed about Shindo Hikaru's play.

* * *

Hikaru and Coach Takahashi had talked for so long that everyone had already finished showering by the time Hikaru returned to the locker room. And by the time Hikaru had finished his shower, he and Sai were the only ones left. Hikaru was a little disappointed, since he loved cheering with his team after a good game the most. But then again, this hadn't felt like a good game to him anyway.

"Gah! I've never played so bad in my life!" Hikaru groaned as he and Sai trudged down the street.

"I thought you did very well, Hikaru." Sai encouraged brightly, remembering one notable moment in particular. "You kicked the ball very high."

Hikaru's mood darkened immediately.

"Thanks, Sai." Hikaru told the ghost, though he knew that Sai legitimately believed that had been a move meant to be praised.

Sai trailed behind Hikaru worriedly after that, as Hikaru had seemed even more depressed by his encouragement. He kept looking down at the boy with great concern as Hikaru proceeded to drag his body home.

After a couple of more blocks of Sai's worried hovering, Hikaru meant to snap at the ghost to give him some room. But something else caught his eye as he had looked up.

"Sai!" Hikaru shouted suddenly.

Sai nearly had a heart attack at the sudden change in Hikaru's mood.

"Yes, Hikaru?" Sai asked cautiously, turning to look at whatever had caught Hikaru's eye.

"Let's go in!" Hikaru pointed at the sign in front of them. "It's a Children's Go Tournament. Go! Sai, go! And it's free! Free!"

Realization dawned upon Sai's expression.

"Hikaru's the best! Hikaru!" Sai shouted happily, grabbing onto Hikaru's shoulders and giving him hug after hug as the pair made their way inside.

Hikaru just grinned, moving to readjust the strap of his gear bag.

Yeah, he was the best. Who else could indulge Sai's go obsession as effectively as he did? He hadn't spent anything on the game yet.

...

**Author's Notes: **

It's been all about soccer this chapter and the last, but it'll be about go again for at least three or four chapters after this. I'm trying to keep a constant ratio of 2:1 go-soccer chapters.


	5. Children's Go Tournament I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 5: Children's Go Tournament I._

...

"Wow." Hikaru said as they looked around the huge hall.

He spun in a circle as he walked in order to take in the entire atmosphere, nearly walking into another person as he did so. The woman glared at Hikaru, expecting an apology.

Hikaru hadn't actually hit her. He was about to point this out, but shut his mouth tight upon spotting that lady's kid.

The boy standing beside her looked uncomfortable and completely embarrassed. Hikaru winced as the kid tugged at his mother's arm and begged her to "not make a scene". Hikaru knew the type from school: quiet, kind of cool once you got to know them, but wanted nothing more in life than to live without trouble.

"Err...sorry." Hikaru apologized to the kid, completely meaning it. Parents were embarrassing.

"Hmph!" The kid's mom replied, apparently thinking Hikaru was talking to her.

She stomped away, dragging her child with her.

Hikaru ignored the fact that he and Sai had to follow behind her. They were going to the _same place_.

They entered the main hall. The entire place was filled with tables and go boards, and children sitting in all of the seats. Parents and grandparents made up the crowd of adults, all silently cheering for the successes, and silently agonizing over the struggles, of their children from the sidelines.

"_It feels like I'm walking onto the field right before the start of a soccer game."_ Hikaru said to Sai, glancing at the crowd of anxiety-filled spectators. They looked just like the parents in the stands during an important soccer match.

"So many children." Sai smiled cheerfully, looking upon the room with great fondness.

"These children have the same passion for go I had a thousand years ago. These children are telling me that things will be the same a thousand years from now."

Hikaru was silent as he stared out at the sea of children so seriously playing their games. If this was before he met Sai, Hikaru would have said that go was a game for old men with nothing better to do without even thinking about it. But there were children here younger than him. Their parents were watching from the sidelines, cheering for them. This pressure, this nervousness...this feeling was familiar to Hikaru even if it was a different game.

"Hikaru, let us observe these games." Sai said, easily falling into what was sure to be a lecture about go. "You will find that there is much to learn from observing games. We are even more fortunate to be able to observe the games of players of similar age to you. This will give you a better indication of your level of play, a much more accurate judgment than simply playing against me."

Hikaru had long ago given up on complaining whenever Sai launched into go lectures. Hikaru would hear them whether he wanted to or not, and he would waste less time if he just listened.

But Hikaru was curious about how he compared to other children. Sai was a monster, a Heian go-playing monster. Hikaru couldn't even begin to match up to Sai. But against children his own age...Hikaru would probably place a bet in favor of himself. (He wouldn't wager money, of course, but maybe like a game of soccer or something.)

Sai and Hikaru observed a scattering of games around the hall. Hikaru was forced to weave through the entire crowd alone, as Sai would finish a lecture on a game only to spot a better game to comment upon. It was somewhat difficult, considering that Hikaru was still lugging around his full gear bag...not that that maniac ghost noticed.

"Hikaru! Hikaru! Let us move in this direction. We have not observed any of the games being played in this corner of the hall as of yet."

Hikaru cursed go-obsessed ghosts who did whatever they wanted because no one else could see or hear them. Unlike Sai, he was a very-much-alive boy with a cumbersome physical body that could run into people and, more often than not, annoy the other people around him as he weaseled his way through the crowd.

"Oh! Look at the board in the upper left corner." Sai pointed over to one side as Hikaru finished wiggling his way to the front of the crowd. "If black isn't careful, those stones will perish."

Hikaru's eyes darted over to where Sai indicated, enough time to study the board before the player set his stone down.

"Oh! So close!" Hikaru reacted painfully. "You should have gone right above that."

"Huh?" The boy playing black took another look at the board. "Oh..."

"Oh..." His opponent said as well. "You're right."

Suddenly, the boy, his opponent, and their parents all turned to stare at Hikaru.

"_Did I say that out loud?"_ Hikaru asked Sai.

Instead of answering, Sai stood next to him and looked horrified.

"Oops." Hikaru clapped his hand over his mouth.

* * *

"A lot of children take this tournament very seriously."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hikaru apologized profusely. "I'm sorry!"

The head official Hikaru had been taken to see only sighed, shaking his head at Hikaru.

With his bleached hair, and dressed in his brightly-colored sports clothing, and carrying a gear bag, Hikaru looked as if he had come into the go tournament looking to make trouble rather than quietly observe.

But Hikaru had apologized a lot, and the boy really did seem to mean it.

"I'm sorry, but we're going to have to ask you to leave the tournament." The head official said to him, deciding to let the matter go. There wasn't much they could do to him anyway.

"I'm sorry again. I'm really, really sorry. I won't do it again. Bye!" Hikaru apologized a few more times before getting out of there as fast as possible.

The door slammed shut behind him.

Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief outside the room, waiting a minute to get his heart rate back to normal.

"That was awful." Sai sighed remorsefully. Sai had been apologizing for the "error of his student" alongside Hikaru through the whole ordeal.

"_Really, really awful."_ Hikaru agreed.

"They had to restart the match." Sai sighed again.

"_Me and my big mouth."_ Hikaru remarked depressingly.

"I feel bad for those kids." Sai said as they started down the hall.

Hikaru just sighed.

He actually did feel really bad about this though. It was the same as if he had interfered in a soccer game, stepping onto the field when he had absolutely no business of being there.

And because Hikaru wasn't looking when he turned at the corner, he collided hard into someone and fell backwards onto the floor.

Hikaru landed with a thud against hard tile.

"Hikaru! Are you hurt?" Sai fussed about, reaching to pat Hikaru's various limbs and extremities in search of injury.

Hikaru only winced, groaning as he hauled himself into sitting position.

"_Ow."_ Hikaru thought loudly to Sai. _"And I'm still beat from tryouts too._"

Thankfully, he had fallen onto his full gear bag. That meant that, mostly, he had just fallen onto his soccer ball and his practice uniform. But his elbow had hit his cleats in the side pocket, and now it was numb from sharp, tingly sensations.

Hikaru rubbed at his elbow and thanked his usual luck for the save. It was only then that he realized that the person he had crashed into probably hadn't fallen onto a mostly-padded bag full of soccer stuff.

**"I'm sorry!"**

Two voices had exclaimed the same apology at the very same time.

Hikaru looked up to see that he had bumped into a boy around his age with a bob-cut hairstyle. And even though it was the weekend, the kid was dressed in a neatly-pressed school uniform he didn't recognize.

The two of them stared at one another.

...

**Author's Notes: **

Hikaru's been tutored by Sai in go for a while now, so he could understand the dangerous position of black Sai pointed out to him during the tournament. He probably couldn't have figured it out himself, of course, but he was able to see it with his tutor pointing it out to him. And that is Hikaru's go level at this point in the story.


	6. Children's Go Tournament II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 6: Children's Go Tournament II._

...

Hikaru was not idle for long. Being the highly-gifted athlete he was, he jumped to his feet with all of the intentions of helping the other boy up.

Unfortunately, his foot got tangled by the strap of his gear bag and Hikaru toppled to the floor again without having gone a single step.

The two other occupants of the hallway winced.

"Hikaru! Are you hurt? Did you break your bones? Have you torn your muscles? Are you bleeding? How much blood are you losing? Should I look for bandages? Do you need the pack of cold or the pack of hot?" Sai questioned, running back and forth in a circle as he panicked.

Hikaru seemed to get hurt often, especially when he was playing soccer. Sai had been introduced to some of the modern medicinal marvels to treat such injuries, such as the medical bandages that eased muscle strain and the strange packs containing either hot or cold. But Sai still panicked at every injury, and Hikaru could never say aloud that there wasn't really anything Sai could do for him.

"_No, Sai. Calm down! I'm fine."_ Hikaru assured the ghost as he _carefully_ picked himself up this time. He made sure to move the strap of his bag out of his way.

Sai allowed himself to sigh with relief after seeing Hikaru stand painlessly and without obvious injury.

"Hey, sorry about running into you." Hikaru addressed the kid he had run into. "Need a hand?"

Touya Akira stared at the hand Hikaru offered him for a second, as if he couldn't even understand the gesture.

Hikaru just made sure to smile his most friendly smile and waited.

Eventually, Hikaru hauled the other boy up to his feet, before stepping back to dust himself off. Maybe it was because he had fallen twice, but Hikaru looked as if he had just swept the floor with his clothes.

Touya Akira didn't look as if he had a speck of dust on him, but he moved to brush dust off of his still-immaculate clothes as well since Hikaru was doing so.

"This was my fault. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going." Hikaru confessed as he easily made conversation. "I'm Hikaru, by the way. Shindo Hikaru, future soccer superstar!"

Hikaru grinned widely over Touya to make sure he got that he was just kidding around.

Touya slowly smiled back at him. It was a small, barely-distinguishable smile, but it was there.

"I'm Touya Akira."

"Nice to meet you, Touya." Hikaru said, casually clasping his hands behind his head.

Akira shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. He always felt as if it was his turn to say something. But he never knew what to say, and the conversation would end up stalled in an uncomfortable silence that was embarrassing for both people.

But Hikaru had never before in his life experienced such a silence.

"So, you like go?" Hikaru asked curiously. "Are you in the tournament?"

Akira felt a large weight lift from his shoulders.

"Yes, I like go very much." Akira answered honestly. "But no, I'm not in the tournament."

"Oh," said Hikaru.

At this point, Akira mentally prepared himself for the usual questioning of why he wasn't in the tournament. And he had had enough experience to expect the subsequent awkwardness after he answered that he wasn't in the tournament because it wouldn't be fair to other children if he entered. Akira was actually disappointed. He didn't often get to interact with children his own age, and had just started to enjoy this conversation.

"Me either." Hikaru said brightly, surprising Akira as they so easily bypassed the conversation he had preparing himself for.

"Though, it seems like everyone else is. I didn't see anyone in the crowd but parents and adults. It's cool that you're just here to watch too."

Akira only nodded mutely, too surprised by Hikaru's turn in this conversation to think of anything to say.

"I saw a lot of interesting games before." Hikaru told Akira, not even noticing that the person he was talking to wasn't saying anything. "There's a lot more kids here than I thought there would be. Hey, did you notice that some of the kids in the tournament are younger than we are? Actually, are we the same age? I'm in the sixth grade. I turned twelve in September."

Hikaru looked expectantly at Akira for an answer. And when Touya didn't answer right away, he just continued waiting.

"I'm also in the sixth grade." Akira replied hastily, after realizing that Hikaru was waiting for him to answer. He had taken some time to notice that Hikaru had asked him a question, and felt embarrassed that he had taken so long to answer. Akira hoped that Hikaru wouldn't think he was strange and uninteresting now that it had happened twice.

"Nice! So we are the same age." Hikaru exclaimed excitedly. "I thought so. You're a little taller than me, but I'm a little short for our age. I'll grow though. Most of the forward strikers on professional soccer teams are tall, so I'm hoping for a huge growth spurt."

Hikaru's thoughts naturally wandered to wondering when he would get his growth spurt and how tall he would get. He began imagining himself becoming the tallest professional soccer player on the field and outrunning his opponents in one stride. His imaginary self had just scored multiple goals to win the championship. He had been hoisted onto his imaginary team's shoulders while carrying the cup over his head when he finally snapped himself back to attention.

Seeing that Akira was still standing there, Hikaru figured he hadn't been zoned out for too long. He grinned over at his new friend.

Akira was beginning to understand why Hikaru didn't seem disturbed by long pauses in conversation.

"So...you like soccer?"

Akira had been determined to be the one to attempt conversation this time, though he inwardly winced at the question that had come out of his mouth. It had been similar to Hikaru's question about go, but sounded unnatural coming from Akira.

"Yep!" Hikaru answered simply, looking quite proud that someone had recognized it.

Akira eyed the brightly-colored soccer jersey Hikaru was wearing. It had been a little obvious.

"I'm the MVP of my school's soccer team." Hikaru decided to boast a little. Everyone else was tired of hearing him say it, but he and Akira had only just met. "And I just had my tryout today for the Tokyo Team of the Japan Youth Soccer League."

"That's really...impressive?" Akira made a reasonable guess, tilting his head slightly in question.

"It is! It's way impressive. But, well..." Hikaru rubbed at his neck with some embarrassment. "I didn't play too well today."

Hikaru sighed depressingly, going on to confess,

"No, that's not right either. I think I've played the worst I've ever played today."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Akira told Hikaru honestly.

Hikaru sighed. "I'm pretty sure I blew my chances for getting onto the team. That's why I came to check out the go tournament. I thought it would cheer me up a little, you know."

"Did it cheer you up?" Akira asked hopefully. He was glad that they were back on a topic that he could contribute to, but it wouldn't be any good if go hadn't brought Hikaru's spirits up.

"Yeah..." Hikaru said, absently remembering everything that had happened since he had walked in and nearly ran into that lady and that kid.

Hikaru looked up in surprise.

"Yeah! It did cheer me up!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Hikaru very casually and subtly turned to his side and beamed at Sai.

"I hadn't even remembered that I was bummed about the tryouts until right now." Hikaru said aloud, addressing not just Akira but Sai as well. "Go really cheered me up today."

"I'm glad, Hikaru." Sai replied, smiling down at Hikaru.

Hikaru secretly decided that he would give Sai as many games as he wanted tonight. He suddenly felt like being particularly nice to the whiny, go-maniac ghost.

"Hey! You know, I didn't think about it before, but why are you back here?" Hikaru turned back to Akira.

"I'm actually not supposed to be back here either." Hikaru began to look around the hall shiftily. "But you don't seem like the type to get kicked out of tournaments."

Akira very politely spared Hikaru a very confused look at such a statement.

"I'm meeting—"

Akira stopped his explanation when Hikaru—moving to look around the corner—suddenly collided into another person.

However, while Shindo Hikaru had fallen to the floor, Touya Meijin had not.

...

**Author's Notes:**

I was thinking over this fanfiction recently, and I realized with horror that I had skipped the chapter I was planning to write in which Sai and Hikaru play their first game of go and hilarity ensues. I think I may write a short version of it and add it at the end of a chapter. I already had a few ideas that I really liked, but didn't fit into the story anyway. It would be fun if I wrote them as short extras and shared them with everyone.


	7. Children's Go Tournament III

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 7: Children's Go Tournament III._

...

Hikaru stared up at the imposing figure he had stupidly run into. Dressed in a strictly formal kimono with eyes sharp enough to cut him in half, Hikaru felt physically unable to do anything other than gape at quite possibly the most intimidating man he had ever seen in his life.

And Hikaru was beginning to think that Coach Takahashi had actually been really open and approachable. In fact, Hikaru was pretty sure that after a few more practices, when Coach ran them into the ground by ordering them to run and keep running until their feet bled, Hikaru would have just laughed and said "That's Coach!" or something equally stupid like that.

Alright, so Hikaru was actually aware of how stupid he was right now. That didn't happen often. But when it did, he knew that he had to shake himself out of it if he didn't want to continue acting stupid.

"_Sai! What do I do?"_ Hikaru thought in a panic.

"Remember your manners." Sai replied immediately, repeatedly gesturing upwards to get Hikaru to stand up quickly and just stop gawking at the man.

Hikaru mechanically clamored to his feet, as if it were his muscles doing the thinking and his muscles were only remembering that his body wasn't much often in that position.

But he was still being glared at by the intimidating man. That was making his thoughts go haywire. And somewhere in Hikaru's mind, it had decided that the best way to cope with all of these chaotic thoughts was to shut it down.

"We are truly apologetic and humbly beg for your forgiveness." Sai said, unheard, from Hikaru's side.

Sai nudged Hikaru.

Hikaru felt his mouth open and close automatically. He thought that he was saying words, but couldn't be sure. He was pretty sure it was an apology. And he guessed that he was parroting something similar to what Sai had said.

With a blink, Hikaru finished rebooting. Immediately, he concentrated on the situation at hand. He glanced over at Sai, who was nodding satisfactorily. Hikaru guessed that he had just said the right thing and apologized for running into that man.

Hikaru looked over at the other two people there. One was giving him a surprised look. The other was looking completely baffled.

Hikaru sent a confused look Akira's way. Why did Akira look so shocked? Was it something he said?

"Akira," Touya Meijin addressed his son with some surprise. "Is this boy a friend of yours?"

Rather than answer the question, Akira was physically distraught. He didn't know how to answer his father. Was Hikaru his friend? They had only just met, and only spoken to each other for a few minutes. But his father had asked him a simple question. There just wasn't a simple answer.

Akira opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't force any words out.

"We just met right now." Hikaru responded for him.

Akira immediately closed his mouth.

And he knew he was just being foolish, but Akira actually felt a little disappointed by that answer.

"So, he's my newest friend!" Hikaru continued brightly, casually throwing an arm over Akira's shoulders.

Hikaru smiled up at the Meijin, oblivious to the reactions of both Touyas.

Akira felt warmth spread over his chest. He allowed himself a small smile at the thought of having a friend to introduce to his father.

"Father, this is Shindo Hikaru. Shindo-san, this is my father."

"Touya Koyo, Meijin." Touya Meijin introduced himself succinctly.

"Err..."

Sai's fan snapped the top of his head.

"Hikaru! I just told you to remember your manners." Sai admonished with a surprisingly-intimidating glare.

Hikaru winced at the pain on his head, but knew better than to make a move to rub it. That would only make him look weirder.

Instead, he straightened his posture, made sure his arms were properly at his sides, and inclined his head forward the way he knew Sai wanted him to do. He didn't need any more phantom pains.

"Shindo Hikaru." Hikaru formally introduced himself. "I'm glad to make your acquaintance."

Beside him, Touya Akira was once again baffled by Hikaru's sudden formality. He would never admit it aloud, but he had thought the earlier occurrence to have been a fluke.

Touya Meijin looked down at Hikaru with approval.

And of course, Hikaru would still be oblivious to anything and everything outside of himself.

"_Happy, Sai?"_ Hikaru glared over towards the Heian nobleman.

Sai smiled cheerfully, nodding indulgently and once again with great satisfaction. His pupil was so successfully implementing the lessons he had taught him.

"And I am Fujiwara no Sai." Sai introduced himself as well. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Hikaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he returned to standing position. Hikaru thought Sai was very strange to keep doing these kinds of things when no one else could see or hear him. Hikaru didn't even want to do it, and everyone could see and hear him.

"We apologize again for the disturbance." said Sai, looking pointedly at Hikaru.

"I apologize again for running into you." Hikaru bowed again in apology even though all he wanted to do was point out that he had already apologized.

But if he did, he wouldn't hear the end of it from Sai. And Hikaru did not want to be lectured at for his lack of decorum and ill-manners until he went to bed...again.

"Be more careful next time, Shindo Hikaru." Touya Meijin admonished lightly, feeling more lenient towards Hikaru than he would for any other child who had just run into him.

"Of course." Hikaru replied immediately.

Touya Meijin once again directed a look of approval towards the boy in front of him. He would never have expected that any boy looking like Shindo Hikaru would possess such proper manners. His son had very good manners as well, but Akira was naturally polite and courteous. It was refreshing to encounter a child who was truly respectful of his elders.

"_As if I wouldn't."_ Hikaru huffed irritably to Sai.

Sai frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Well, it looks like you and your dad were heading somewhere." Hikaru turned to Akira lightheartedly. "Don't worry about me. I was just about to leave anyway."

"Oh," Akira tried not to look disappointed. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Hikaru nodded. "I better get home. I told my mom I would be coming back right after my tryout."

Hikaru grinned extra brightly at his new friend, casually waving goodbye to Akira right there in the middle of the hallway.

Then he turned to Touya Meijin, spine straight, arms straight, and bowed dutifully.

"Have a good afternoon, Touya-san." Hikaru bade his respectful farewell.

"We have been honored to make your acquaintance today." Sai added alongside Hikaru.

"This has been a pleasant meeting, Shindo Hikaru." Touya Meijin addressed the youth before him fondly. "I hope we meet again in the future."

"Thank you, Touya-san." Hikaru respectfully bowed yet again.

"Goodbye, Shindo-san." Touya forced a smile to his face.

"I'll see you around, Touya." Hikaru grinned one more time at Akira before turning to leave.

Touya Meijin nodded to his son to indicate that he would be continuing on to their original destination. He expected Akira to follow him in sorting out whatever the tournament official had asked for his help with, but knew enough to allow Akira a second to himself.

And Touya Akira did follow behind his father, but paused to cast one last look over his shoulder before he did.

Hikaru was already a ways ahead in the opposite direction, hands clasped casually behind his head, strolling at a leisurely pace.

Akira had never encountered anyone like Shindo Hikaru before. Some of the other children had worn casual clothing similar to Hikaru's, but Hikaru was actually carrying around sports equipment with him. Akira had never seen a child so obviously dedicated to a physical sport attend a go event before.

Not only that, but looking at Shindo Hikaru now, it was also hard to believe that such a formal and proper introduction had been made by this seemingly carefree boy.

But for all of the eccentricities and peculiarities of the boy he had just met, Hikaru had declared himself Akira's friend. He was glad that he had agreed to come to this tournament with his father today rather than stay at the go salon like he usually did.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the sudden, loud crash of a door slamming into the wall. However, it wasn't so much the noise echoing down the hall, but the person behind it that surprised him the most.

"Ogata-san!" Akira exclaimed.

Even Touya Meijin looked surprised and confused as he stared at his student looking frantically up and down the hallway.

"Touya-sensei!" Ogata Seiji exclaimed upon seeing them. "And Akira-kun too. Have either of you seen—"

Ogata stepped away from them, his gaze focused further down the hall.

"Hey, you! Kid! Stop!"

Ogata began to nearly run down the length of the hallway, briskly catching up to the person he was addressing.

"You in the soccer jersey!"

...

**Author's Notes: **

Inspiration for Hikaru meeting both Touyas came from the page in the artbook where Touya is standing behind his father, but looks back over his shoulder. Did anyone else think of that while reading this? It was constantly on my mind even before I wrote this.


	8. Children's Go Tournament IV

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 8: Children's Go Tournament IV._

...

Hikaru immediately stopped and jerked his head up towards whoever had said "soccer".

Ogata caught up to him and loomed over him critically.

Hikaru gave him a strange look as he not-so-subtly leaned away.

"Were you the one who pointed out the critical move at 1-2?" Ogata peered down intensely at the youth.

"Huh?" Hikaru stared up at Ogata incomprehensibly.

"1-2!" Ogata snapped impatiently. "The critical move at 1-2 that neither of the tournament participants playing the game saw, but you did! You pointed it out in the middle of their game!"

Hikaru's eyes widened as he realized just what exactly he was being asked about right now.

"_Sai!"_ Hikaru screamed to the ghost. _"What do I do?"_

"Just stay calm." Sai advised him. Though, it wasn't really convincing when Sai was panicking too.

"_That head official guy said I could just leave! How come I'm still in trouble?"_

Meanwhile, even if he didn't know what was being communicated between Hikaru and Sai right in front of him, Ogata had seen enough to be certain he had stopped the right person.

"It was you." Ogata sighed.

He studied Hikaru another moment to make sure.

Hikaru's eyes darted around him, looking for a good escape route. He could probably make it. He didn't think this guy looked that fast.

"Follow me." Ogata ordered before turning on his heel and heading back the way he came.

At this, Hikaru looked torn between outright running away as if this hallway were on fire and seeking to take him down with it in a burning inferno...or following Ogata.

Actually, what everyone was seeing was _Hikaru_ wanting to run away as fast as he could while _Sai_ wanted to do as they were told. Hikaru had no qualms with running away from his problems.

Touya Akira winced as the internal struggle ended with Hikaru jerkily running into the wall.

"Shindo-san!" Akira shouted in alarm, running up to the injured party.

"Are you alright, Shindo-san?" Akira asked worriedly.

"Ouch." Hikaru hissed, rubbing at his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hikaru assured him, turning to grin widely at Touya. "Hehe. I guess the score's not in my favor against that wall. Huh, Touya?"

Touya just stared at Hikaru, at a loss for words.

"Akira-kun, you know him?" Ogata asked from down the hall. "Well, that's good, I suppose. You come along too. This was what Touya-sensei was called to help with."

"Touya, you know that guy?" Hikaru asked Akira, jabbing his thumb in Ogata's direction.

"Yes. I've known Ogata-san my whole life." Akira answered Hikaru.

"Oh. Then I guess it's alright to go with him, right?" HIkaru whispered to Akira conspiringly. "I mean, it sounds like you and Touya-san will be in there with me, right?"

Akira glanced down the hall, where Ogata was joining his father standing outside of the door Ogata had burst out from.

"Please help me, Touya." Hikaru shamelessly begged, pleading to the other boy as if in prayer. "I'll be in your debt. I'll owe you a giant favor. I'll play soccer with you whenever you want. I'll even teach you my Ghost Kick. Just don't leave me alone with that weirdo in the white suit."

"Ogata-san doesn't mean any harm." Akira replied certainly, briefly wondering what the 'Ghost Kick' was.

Hikaru silently prayed to the great deity Touya Akira a few more times, before becoming curious and cracking one eyelid to try to gauge whether or not his begging was working.

"I've never helped a friend before..." Akira confessed hesitantly.

Yet, Touya nodded resolutely as he turned to Hikaru.

"But I'll do my best."

"You're a good guy, Touya!" Hikaru grinned cheerfully, throwing Touya a thumbs-up.

Touya turned around quickly to hide his blushing, hoping that Hikaru hadn't seen that and now thought he was strange. He was too embarrassed to turn back around to make sure Hikaru was following him.

Hikaru turned to Sai in a flush of accomplishment.

"_I'm sure I won't get yelled at as much if Touya is there."_ Hikaru grinned as he started to follow the others back into the room he had only just left.

"Hikaru, you shouldn't exploit your friendships if you wish to keep them." lectured Sai.

"_As if you're not relieved either, scaredy cat."_ accused Hikaru.

"_Hi-ka-ru_!" Sai protested uselessly, waving his arms around urgently in an effort to get Hikaru to understand.

That message was not received.

Touya Meijin and Touya Akira walked into the room first. Neither father nor son knew what to think at this point, and so resolved that they would stay silent until the situation was explained to them.

Hikaru slouched into the room behind them, Ogata holding the door open for him. But Ogata Seiji looked a bit uncertain about Hikaru now, having just witnessed the kid running face-first into a wall.

"_Even if we're really in trouble, I don't think they can do that much to us, Sai."_ Hikaru concluded, having thought over their situation.

"You should never have blurted out the move, Hikaru." Sai cried loudly behind him. "What will we do if they called us back to tell us that we're banned from go events forever!"

"_It wasn't that serious,"_ replied Hikaru. "_...I think."_

Hikaru frowned. He really, really, _really_ hoped it wasn't that serious. He was pretty sure Sai would cry and never stop if they were banned from go events. And then he would have to live the rest of his life with a depressed, sobbing ghost hanging around.

"Touya-sensei!" The head official who had dismissed Hikaru earlier exclaimed upon seeing Touya Meijin enter the room.

"It sounds like there was some sort of trouble." Touya Meijin said, glancing over briefly at Hikaru.

Hikaru winced.

"Take a look at this."

Everyone crowded around the go board set up in the middle of the room. Hikaru made sure to steer clear of it. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what they were looking at, considering that weirdo's questions for him earlier.

Hikaru wanted to look like he had no part in this. Maybe if he did that well enough, they would let him go. This was his plan and he was sticking to it.

"Even a pro would need a moment to solve this problem," Ogata remarked. "But this kid just took a quick peek. A witness saw him enter and wander around the hall before he stopped briefly in the area where this was being played."

Touya Meijin was silent as he studied the board. Touya Akira curiously peeked around his father for a better look.

Hikaru swallowed nervously and tugged at his collar, looking everywhere else but the go board.

Within a moment, Touya Akira's eyes widened and he jerked his head to look at Hikaru with newfound wonder.

Hikaru cleared his throat and told himself that no one noticed that he was sweating.

"I see." Touya Meijin's expression softened just a little as he said this. Touya Akira recognized this as his father smiling.

"To instantly notice this move," said one of the younger officials. "I didn't think there would be a child other than your son to do something like that."

Everyone glanced over at the smaller figure standing beside his father.

Then everyone turned to look at Hikaru.

Hikaru gulped loudly.

"Is this account of events true, Shindo Hikaru?" Touya Meijin asked.

"No! Of course not!" Hikaru exclaimed as he waved his hands frantically in front of him, his best attempt at warding off all of the serious looks and expectations suddenly directed towards him.

"I could never have figured that out myself. I couldn't even see the critical point." Hikaru told them, pointing to the go board to make it obvious what he was talking about.

"Then how did you?" Ogata asked him suspiciously.

"Err..." Hikaru glanced over at Sai.

There was no way Hikaru could ever explain the truth. They would think he was nuts! Even worse, they would think he was some kind of a go genius...who just happened to be nuts!

"My go tutor pointed out a formation like that one to me." Hikaru heard the words fall out of his mouth even before his brain could process them. "If he hadn't pointed out that critical area to me, I would have never seen it. I'm still learning go, so there's no way I'm at the level you're all thinking of. I just recognized it and blurted it out. That's all!"

Hikaru inwardly winced. Technically, what he had just said wasn't _really_ a lie. It was a formation like _that one_. It was the formation of stones _that one_ was copying.

A tense silence followed Hikaru's explanation. Hikaru was suddenly sure that they all knew that he was lying. They could just see it on his face or something. No, they knew it because his story was ridiculous. Who would have a go tutor these days? This was modern day Tokyo, not ancient times Edo!

"Your go tutor?" Akira asked curiously, as if the notion were merely interesting rather than outdated and strange.

"_Nice save, Touya!"_

"Um...yeah!" Hikaru replied brightly, deciding that he mind as well finish it if he had started it. What he was saying were _mostly_ truths. Besides, his first plan of pretending-this-all-didn't-exist hadn't quite worked out like he thought it would.

"He's a total go maniac. He beats me every game no matter what handicap I'm using. He's...uh...obviously not here right now...of course. But he, um... He's the reason I came to check out the tournament today!"

Hikaru thought he had finished that strong. He could almost cheer himself.

"Yep. That's definitely the truth. I definitely only came in here because of him. My go tutor. That him." Hikaru kept rambling, lost in his own half-truths.

"Yes. I suppose that would explain this." Touya Meijin remarked, studying the shape of the stones once more. It was a rather complicated formation for a child to grasp, and especially as effortlessly as the story was making Hikaru out to have done.

"Why do you have a go tutor?" Ogata cut in to ask, looking at Hikaru even more suspiciously now than before Hikaru had 'explained'.

Hikaru couldn't even comprehend that his words weren't convincing everyone. He just stared at Ogata instead of answering him.

"You look more like a soccer enthusiast than a go enthusiast." Ogata pointed out.

Hikaru thought that he should be offended.

"So?" Hikaru snapped, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. "So I like playing soccer _and_ go, is that a crime? I can't like both equally?"

Ogata raised an eyebrow at him.

"But Hikaru, you don't like go and soccer equally." Sai pointed out.

"_Shut up, Sai!"_ Hikaru replied. _"They don't know that."_

"I believe this is more than enough, Ogata-kun." Touya Meijin smoothly interrupted Hikaru and Ogata's conversation. "Shindo Hikaru has explained himself, and it seems that we have all gotten ahead of ourselves. I hope this will not affect your enthusiasm for go, Shindo-kun."

"Of course not." Hikaru replied automatically, responding just as he would if they had asked him whether or not this go tournament would affect his love for soccer.

Nothing would be different at all because Hikaru doubted that even a terrifying experience like this would stop Sai from whining and complaining until Hikaru played go with him. And even then, Sai would just complain that they weren't playing enough go.

For everyone else in the room, however, Hikaru's answer of absolute certainty had been incredibly impressive. They looked at Hikaru with newfound respect. Touya Meijin directed approval towards Shindo Hikaru, and decided then that he liked this child.

"We apologize for keeping you. You are free to leave now, Shindo Hikaru." Touya Meijin dismissed Hikaru for all of the occupants of the room, effectively closing off any more questions.

"Then we shall take our leave." Sai responded, bowing formally to the occupants of the room.

"Then I'll be leaving now." Hikaru followed Sai, still kind of confused about what had just happened.

Touya Akira met him at the door, a pensive expression on his face before replacing it with a friendly smile as Hikaru approached.

"Thanks, Touya." Hikaru whispered to his friend. "You really saved me today. I owe you one."

Whatever lingering doubts and questions Touya Akira may have had, they disappeared at the thought of having helped a friend today.

"I hope we see each other again." Akira told Hikaru, embarrassed at saying it aloud but happy to be able to say it to his friend.

Hikaru smiled brightly.

"Of course we will." Hikaru told Akira. "I'm going to start coming to more go events and stuff. They're pretty fun...err, not counting some parts."

Akira made sure not to laugh. He was sure that his father and Ogata and everyone else in the room was still staring at them right behind him.

"I attend a lot of go events." Akira told Hikaru. "Hopefully, we'll attend the same ones."

"Me too!" Hikaru said cheerfully, throwing Touya another thumbs-up. "See ya, Touya. Soon, I hope!"

Hikaru grinned and waved casually to Touya before he left.

"_I don't know what just happened, Sai. But we're definitely not in trouble."_ Hikaru thought aloud as soon as the pair had stepped outside and back onto the sidewalk.

"And we're not banned from go events forever." Sai sighed with obvious relief.

The pair left the Children's Go Tournament, putting the whole horrible experience behind them without another thought.

...

**Author's Notes: **

I don't think I've ever read a fanfiction where Ogata actually gets to Hikaru during the Children's Go Tournament. I wanted that to happen, since I thought that that Q&A session would be intense. But Touya Meijin seems like a fair guy, so my writing of it wasn't as intense as I imagined.

...

_And to thank everyone for sticking with me through this multi-chapter arc..._

**Extra/Omake #1: Hikaru & Sai Play Go Together For the First Time**

"So what did I waste my MVP award on again?" Hikaru asked as he sat before the blood-stained goban now sitting in the middle of his room.

Not only did it take up valuable soccer ball trick practice space, but it was old and weird and had a ghost haunting it. It was not what Hikaru considered to be a great and valuable treasure, no matter how much of a fuss his Jii-chan had made when Hikaru had announced that he wanted it.

"This was Torajiro's goban." Sai informed him, tearing up a bit. "We played many games together atop this board."

"Who's Torajiro?" Hikaru asked blankly. "An old man?"

"Torajiro was not old!" Sai cried indignantly.

Hikaru had to cover his ears.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that?" Hikaru shouted. "I don't know who you're talking about. You're speaking as if this Torajiro is famous and legendary and everyone knows about him!"

Hikaru huffed and cast an irritated glare in Sai's direction.

Sai just looked back at him, realizing dawning upon his expression.

"Forgive me, Hikaru." Sai apologized, his large amethyst-colored eyes filling with tears. "I was lost in my memories and did not consider your feelings. I shall try harder to explain myself to you from now on."

Hikaru groaned at the onslaught of guilt and sorrow Sai was looping to him. It was weird to feel bad about what he said. It was even weirder to feel sorry at himself.

"Whatever." Hikaru grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away.

But then he started to feel bad that Sai was feeling bad. Stupid loop.

"Don't worry about it, Sai." Hikaru patted the ghost's shoulder comfortingly. "I know you didn't mean it. Besides, you're...uh, not used to company. I mean, you've been a ghost for a thousand years or whatever. It's hard to get back into the habit of talking to someone."

Sai sniffled, but nodded demurely at Hikaru's encouragement.

"Let's play already!" Hikaru excitedly reached for the go stones. "This game is all you've been talking about since we met. It must be super fun!"

Ten minutes later...

"Agh!" Hikaru shouted, throwing handfuls of go stones into the air in his frustration. "I don't get any of this! What's so interesting about this game? It's boring and stupid and only old men play it!"

"Wah! _Hi-ka-ru!_" Sai cried out desperately. "Go is not boring nor is it a stupid game. And it's certainly not only old men who play it."

"What do you know?" Hikaru shouted. "You're a thousand years old! You're the oldest man of all! That's why you like this game so much!"

"No, Hikaru! I've enjoyed playing go even as a child. And I was a young man when I was a go tutor to the Emperor."

Hikaru pretended not to hear. Instead, he turned over on his bed and pretended to take a nap.

"_Hi-ka-ru! _Let's play go, Hikaru!"


	9. Haze Junior High School Festival I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 9: Haze Junior High School Festival I._

...

Hikaru and Sai stood in front of the Haze Junior High School gates, still waiting.

"Stupid Akari!" Hikaru scrubbed at his hair again. "She was the one who invited me to this thing!"

"But Hikaru, you didn't tell Akari-chan that you would be meeting her." Sai interjected, peering down at his student with some concern. He worried he hadn't taught Hikaru proper manners well enough.

"And I don't have any money!" Hikaru continued ranting to Sai, oblivious to the stares he was attracting. "Am I just supposed to watch everyone else eat?"

Hikaru looked back towards where all of the stalls had been set up. Everyone else was eating. Everyone else!

Hikaru eyed a baby drooling over a piece of indistinguishable food grasped in its hand. The baby smiled up at Hikaru.

Meanwhile, Sai was looking around at this 'festival' in confusion. He didn't understand what they were celebrating. It wasn't yet the new year. And it hadn't seemed as if the rest of the city were also celebrating this particular day from what he had seen on his journey here.

"Well, let's just go in." Hikaru said to Sai, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "We came all the way here. Maybe smelling food is enough to stop hunger."

"Yes, yes," Sai nodded absently. "This is a festival so we should participate in the festivities."

"I don't know what 'festivities' you're expecting." Hikaru rolled his eyes as the pair strolled further into the school. "It's just some middle school festival. Though maybe their soccer team is giving a demonstration today..."

Hikaru stopped and took a good look around him at the school for the first time. He tried to figure out where the soccer field was in case there was a demonstration.

"Hikaru!" Sai exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards an inconspicuous booth tucked away along the edges of the lane. "Look! Look!"

Hikaru ignored the fact that Sai was trying to get his attention by trying to topple him over, and struggled to get out from under Sai's ghostly mass and turn his head. He managed to twist his vision over in the direction the ghost was shouting towards.

There was nothing to remark on in this direction, according to Hikaru. But Sai had singled out an elderly man—probably someone's grandfather—standing up and leaving a table that was probably supposed to be a booth.

"What a pathetic booth." Hikaru remarked with a short sigh.

However, he dutifully trotted over to the table anyway.

Hikaru could already immediately tell why this unimpressive and unremarkable table had attracted Sai's attention. There was a goban on top of it. But this table didn't even have a tablecloth. Without a sign or anything to distinguish it, it didn't even look like an official booth.

And there was only one person working here. Hikaru glanced up at the kid running the booth, a kid wearing the Haze uniform and a pair of thick, nerdy-looking glasses.

The nerdy-glasses guy smiled a friendly smile as Hikaru approached.

"Is this a go booth?" Hikaru asked, looking around curiously.

"Of course." The kid nodded, pushing up his large glasses as he did.

"Well...not officially." He confessed, forcing a small smile. "I'm the only one in the go club right now, so it can't actually be considered a club yet."

"Go club?" Hikaru asked. "You mean like the soccer club?"

"Just like that, only for go. Are you interested? You don't need to know how to play go to join. It's enough if you're interested. I could teach you." The other boy offered hopefully.

Hikaru glanced over to his right. Sai attentively looked back at him.

"Nah, I don't think I need to be taught." Hikaru casually leaned back, hands linked behind his head.

The kid behind the booth deflated disappointedly. And Hikaru felt bad for him. He hadn't meant to get the guy's hopes up (They were such small hopes.) only to let him down.

"I play a little." Hikaru offered, stepping back towards the booth. "I'm Hikaru. Shindo Hikaru."

"Tsutsui Kimihiro." The boy pushed his glasses up again.

Despite his disappointment, Tsutsui still smiled at Hikaru in the same friendly way as before. Hikaru concluded that Tsutsui was a really good guy.

"Well, if you know how to play a little, would you like to try?"

Hikaru looked down at the goban. There were already pieces set up on it. Hikaru wondered why the old guy and Tsutsui hadn't cleared the board after they were done. Was he supposed to pick up the old guy's game or something?

"If you can solve a go puzzle, you'll win a prize." Tsutsui informed him, clearing up Hikaru's confusion. "That's the activity I've set up for the go club's booth today."

"Ohh! I get it." Hikaru grinned brightly at Tsutsui as he dumped himself into the seat across. "Yeah, let me try some problems. But I have to warn ya, I'm pretty good."

Tsutsui smiled and began to set up the go problem using some kind of go book for reference.

"_Free stuff."_ Hikaru thought to Sai. _"Now I'm definitely not going to leave."_

Beside him, Sai shook his head.

Once Tsutsui had finished setting up the go puzzle, Hikaru blinked down at the problem.

Tsutsui smiled encouragingly at Hikaru. He hadn't actually had high hopes when Hikaru had told him that he played a little. He was just glad to meet another kid who knew how to play, even if only a little.

"Come on, Tsutsui-san!" Hikaru complained. "You can do better than that. This is beginner's stuff."

Tsutsui's eyes widened in surprise as Hikaru very quickly placed his stone to solve the puzzle.

So, it hadn't been that Hikaru didn't have an answer. It had been because Hikaru couldn't believe how easy it was?

"That was quick."

"It's nice to see children these days play."

"Nice job."

Hikaru turned in his seat to grin thankfully at the misters standing behind him.

"That's the correct answer. Congratulations, Shindo-kun." Tsutsui remarked slowly as he handed Hikaru his prize.

Hikaru gratefully accepted the packet of tissues.

"How about another one, Tsutsui-san?" Hikaru encouraged the other with a big grin. "I actually really like go puzzles."

"_All of that time I spent sitting around and listening to you is finally paying off, Sai!"_

"Hikaru! You should learn go for the love of the game." Sai exclaimed. "Not to win prizes!"

"_I do!"_ Hikaru protested. _"It's just nice to finally use some of the stuff I learn. And what's not to like about free stuff? Besides, you were the one that wanted to come to this booth."_

Tsutsui eagerly set up the next puzzles as Hikaru eagerly awaited the free stuff he would receive. Despite the fact that he may not have sat at this booth as long if he weren't getting prizes, Hikaru did really enjoy go puzzles. He had taken to go a lot more after he and Sai had discovered this.

Some time later, a round of loud applause could be heard from the go booth as Hikaru successfully solved his go puzzle.

"That took a while, but you really solved it!"

"Even I couldn't get that problem."

"Congratulations, kid!"

"Thank you, thank you." Hikaru bowed from his seat to the crowd of half-dozen old guys that had gathered around the go booth since he had sat down.

"That was the most difficult problem you've ever been presented with, Hikaru." Sai said, fanning himself in his excitement. "You've certainly grown tremendously as a go player since we've met."

Hikaru sheepishly rubbed at his head, grinning happily at Sai's comment.

"I'm impressed, Shindo-kun." said Tsutsui. "You must be a really good player."

"Nah," Hikaru dismissed that thought easily. "I just play a little. I've never won a game before."

Tsutsui looked at Hikaru with some confusion as he cleared the board. To be able to solve all of these but never win a single game...Tsutsui wondered if that were possible. But maybe Hikaru really was only good at go puzzles.

"The last puzzle was the grand prize puzzle." Tsutsui announced. "So, I now present you with the Haze Go Club's Festival Booth Grand Prize, Shindo-kun."

Everyone watching clapped again as Tsutsui handed Hikaru the final prize.

Hikaru and Sai both peered down at the book.

"Touya Meijin's Go Tutorial?" Hikaru read.

A spark of recognition flashed across Hikaru's expression.

"Hey!" Hikaru exclaimed. "I know him!"

"What?" Tsutsui exclaimed.

"Touya Meijin. I've met him before." Hikaru pointed at the book.

"You know Touya Meijin?!" Tsutsui shouted.

Hikaru flinched as Tsutsui's chair fell with a clatter onto the ground. And suddenly all he could hear was everyone talking about him knowing Touya Meijin.

...

**Author's Notes:**

I've been really preoccupied this past week. I'm sorry. :(


	10. Haze Junior High School Festival II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 10: Haze Junior High School Festival II._

...

"_Sai!"_ Hikaru called out to the bewildered ghost beside him.

"Perhaps Touya Meijin-san is a famous go instructor." Sai offered explanation.

"_You mean like you were?"_ Hikaru thought about it. _"Yeah...that would make sense. Yeah! That makes total sense."_

Sai nodded.

Suddenly, a fist banged against the table being used for the go-booth, rattling the unused stones and wobbling the goban.

Hikaru looked up at, of all things, a strange kid wearing a bizarre shogi-print kimono.

"You know Touya Meijin?" The guy demanded, glaring down at Hikaru and daring him to lie again.

Hikaru resisted the urge to slink back and cower. Instead, he steeled his expression and puffed up his chest, ready to shout whatever came out of his mouth in defense of himself and the famous go instructor Touya Meijin. Never mind the crowd, they would get over it!

"Hikaru? Why are you here?"

Hikaru nearly tripped himself from how very, very _**awful**_ Akari's timing was.

"You're the one who invited me, Akari!" Hikaru shouted, pointing straight at Akari, who was standing on the side opposite of the shogi kid. He could really only explode at one thing at a time, after all.

Everyone watched in fascination as Hikaru blatantly ignored Kaga Tetsuo of the Haze Shogi Club, even going as far as to turn his back on him.

Tsutsui Kimihiro was pretty sure he was about to have a heart attack...or suddenly start laughing uncontrollably at seeing this situation unfold first hand.

"Hey kid, I was talking to you." Kaga growled, eyes narrowed, nerve twitching near his temple.

"Huh?" Hikaru turned dumbly back to the shogi-kimono. "What?"

"How do you know Touya Meijin?" Kaga shouted, finally bursting from his irritation.

"Hey! Don't shout at Hikaru like that!" Akari shouted back.

Akari was currently clutching his arm and half hiding behind him, but Hikaru appreciated the sentiment anyway.

As Kaga stared blankly at the small girl who had just yelled at him, standing beside the equally-small boy who was obviously not intimidated by him, Tsutsui finally lost it.

"Stop laughing, Kimihiro!"

Tsutsui Kimihiro only laughed harder, holding onto the go club booth/table with one hand and his stomach with the other.

"Kimihiro!" Kaga shouted.

"Sorry," Tsutsui wheezed between laughs. "I'm sorry, Tetsuo. It's just...it's just..."

Both Hikaru and Akari blinked as Tsutsui once again dissolved into a fit of laughter.

"Sorry." Tsutsui attempted again to apologize, out of breath and stomach hurting.

"So, do you really know Touya Meijin, Shindo-kun?" Tsutsui finally managed to ask, turning back to Hikaru.

Hikaru finally remembered the original chaos he had caused. He grinned and scratched at the back of his head.

"Oh yeah," said Hikaru. "Yeah, I know him, Tsutsui-san. I met him when I went to the Children's Go Tournament."

Tsutsui, Kaga, and everyone else who had been watching stared at Hikaru in shock at such a simple and casual response.

"You went to a go tournament, Hikaru?" Akari asked in disbelief.

"I passed it on my way home, so I went in." Hikaru replied casually. "It's not like I planned on it or anything."

"You should have invited me!" Akari pouted, punching Hikaru in the shoulder. "I like go too!"

"Ow! I told you, I didn't plan on it!" Hikaru rubbed at his shoulder. "Geez, you hit hard."

"And who's this Touya Meijin everyone keeps asking you about?" Akari asked, ignoring Hikaru's response to her punching him.

"Why are you asking me when you're the one in love with go?" Hikaru replied sulkily, still rubbing at his arm.

"Huh?" said Akari.

"Shindo-kun," Tsutsui interrupted, looking at Hikaru in disbelief. "Do you not know who Touya Meijin is?"

"Huh?" Hikaru replied, looking back at Tsutsui blankly.

Before Tsutsui could answer him, Kaga started to laugh.

"I like you, kid." Kaga slapped Hikaru on the back in congratulations.

Hikaru catapulted forward at the impact.

"The name's Kaga Tetsuo." Kaga introduced himself. "But you can just call me Kaga."

"Err...thanks?" Hikaru replied uncertainly. What did all of this have to do with him knowing Touya Meijin? Was Touya Meijin so famous that he was known even amongst shogi players?

"I saw you solve that last puzzle. And I'm impressed, kid." Kaga informed him.

"Hikaru."

"What was that?" Kaga turned to him to ask.

"My name's Hikaru." Hikaru crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"Yeah, alright, Hikaru," Kaga waved the issue away like a pesky fly. "And so..."

"Kimihiro, take off your jacket." Kaga ordered, turning to bark at Tsutsui.

Tsutsui pointed to himself just to be certain that Kaga was now talking to him.

"I said take it off!" Kaga Tetsuo shouted, grabbing at the back of Tsutsui's jacket and trying to force the other out of it.

"Why? Kaga!"

"Gah!" Hikaru shouted as the article of clothing hit him in the face.

"Hikaru? Are you alright?" Akari asked as Hikaru coughed out jacket from his mouth.

"Kimihiro, we have the members for the team tournament." Kaga announced.

Hikaru held up Tsutsui's jacket in confusion.

"Me. You. And him." Kaga jabbed his thumb at each member accordingly.

"_What?!_" shouted Tsutsui and Hikaru.

"Kaga! We can't have a grade-schooler on our team!" Tsutsui protested.

"Why not?" replied Kaga. "He was good enough to solve that problem. And you don't have anyone else in your club anyway. Just be happy that you can participate in that tournament now."

"If the tournament officials find out—"

"Stop." Hikaru interrupted, holding his hand for their attention.

Hikaru carefully cleared his throat. And once he was ready, he bowed apologetically to them.

"I apologize, but I will have to turn down your proposition."

Hikaru then turned slightly to his right, listened to Sai, and then once again bowed apologetically.

"I also apologize if I have caused a disruption here." Hikaru formally addressed the gathered crowd. "I take responsibility for my actions and humbly ask for your forgiveness."

Turning to one another and then back to Hikaru, everyone in the crowd mumbled something either to each other or to Hikaru, and quietly dispersed. It was obvious that the two Haze students and Akari had forgotten that there was even a crowd there. And they had been openly making plans to enter a tournament against the rules!

Once they were all gone, Hikaru sighed with relief.

"Well, now that that's taken care of," said Hikaru. "I can tell you that I can't go to whatever your team go tournament thing is anyway. I just made the Tokyo team for the Japan Youth Soccer League, and practice starts this weekend."

Kaga and Tsutsui looked at Hikaru in confusion.

"Tokyo Team?"

"What's the Japan Youth Soccer League?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"Bottom line is, sorry, I can't do it." Hikaru told them.

However, Hikaru let a slow, sly smile spread across his expression as a different idea came to mind.

"But I do know someone who can join the tournament team for me."

"_What?!"_ Kaga, Tsutsui, and Akari shouted in unison.

Akari held Tsutsui's jacket in her hands, one very satisfied Hikaru grinning at her.

...

**Author's Notes: **

Hikaru's on the Tokyo team?! Akari's going to be in the junior high tournament?! Does Kaga still have a grudge against Touya Akira? Does Kaga even _like_ go...or shogi? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

...

**Extra/Omake #2: Hikaru Kidnaps Akari's Dog**

"Hikaru, I'm completely against this course of action."

"Oh, be quiet. You're not even doing anything; you're a ghost."

"That doesn't mean what you're doing right now isn't morally reprehensible!"

"Quiet, Sai!"

Hikaru laid low around the corner, peeking out to check on the road ahead.

"Alright. All clear."

Hikaru leapt out from the bushes, leaves and twigs sticking out and from his hair and clothes. In one hand, he carried his second-favorite soccer ball. And in the other, a leash.

"Yay! Now we can play soccer! Isn't that right, Doggie?" Hikaru addressed the friendly black and brown canine jumping out from the bushes with him.

The dog looked up at Hikaru excitedly, tail wagging and tongue hanging out from his smiling mouth.

"Akari is so mean to lock you up all the time, never letting you out to chase the ball with me." Hikaru sympathized with Doggie, crouching down to pet the animal.

Doggie barked and soaked up the attention Hikaru was giving him happily.

"Let's go, Doggie! I need a practice partner, and no one else is any fun."

"_Hi-ka-ru_!" Sai pouted. "No fair! I don't even have a real body."

"Like I said," Hikaru stuck his tongue out at Sai. "No fun."

Hikaru turned to lead the three of them into the park, towards the wide, open space where he and Doggie would be able to run and play and kick the ball around all they wanted.

"I knew it!"

Hikaru barely stopped before he collided into the other person.

Beside him, Doggie barked and ran around in a circle with great excitement.

"Err..." Hikaru tried hiding the leash behind his back. "Hey, Akari."

Akari glared at Hikaru, hands on her hips, waiting for the inevitable.

Hikaru eventually sighed and handed the leash over.

"I need to practice, Akari! Why can't you just let me play with your dog for a while?" Hikaru whined. "It doesn't cost you anything. And you won't even need to walk him later."

"Because you always bring him back covered in mud and leaves." replied Akari. "And then my mom makes me give Doggie a bath!'

Hikaru was the one to pout this time. It wasn't as if **_he_** weren't covered in mud and leaves and stuff just as much as Doggie was when he brought Akari's pet back. Didn't that count for anything?

"I shouldn't even offer, but my older sister gave me free food vouchers for her school festival." Akari showed Hikaru the tickets. "Let's go celebrate you getting onto the Tokyo team there."

"Free vouchers for a junior high festival?" Hikaru snorted. "Geez, Akari. You're an even bigger cheapskate than I am."

"I am not!" Akari shouted.

Beside her, Doggie barked cheerfully, just to add to the noise he was hearing.

"Anyway, just meet me in front of the gates." Akari told him.

"Hey! You were supposed to treat me to ramen." Hikaru protested.

"Sunday. 2PM. Haze Junior High School." Akari shouted behind her as she turned to leave, leash in hand. "Remember, Hikaru! Or I won't forgive you for kidnapping my dog!"

Doggie barked again, happily running beside Akari as they left.

"Akari! Ramen! I want ramen!"

Hikaru kicked at a pebble after seeing Akari not acknowledge his demand for ramen.

"What now, Hikaru?" Sai asked.

"We practice." Hikaru nodded determinedly, resuming his strides towards the park. "You better play better than you did last time, Sai!"

"But Hikaru!" Sai shouted. "I can't play _saa-kaa_!"

"Try harder!" Hikaru shouted back, disturbing a flock of pigeons as he apparently shouted at thin air.


	11. First Practice with the Tokyo Team

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 11: First Practice with the Tokyo Team_

...

Hikaru was more and more nervous, fidgety, and agitated as the day of his first practice with the Tokyo Team approached. Sai had suffered the most from Hikaru's misplaced aggression, with Hikaru very randomly shouting at the ghost whenever he reached his limit for anxiety. Of course, they still shared emotions so Hikaru would feel awful about yelling at Sai. However, this didn't stop him from continuing to yell at Sai. It just meant he apologized quickly.

The morning of his first practice, Hikaru was determined to do everything right. He was up even before dawn for his morning jog. He had eaten more breakfast than was necessary. And he had made sure to shower and _then_ get dressed. He wanted to arrive clean and ready, his idea of a good first impression.

"_Hurry up, Sai!"_ Hikaru urged the lingering ghost as he speed-walked down the street towards the team stadium.

"_Hi-ka-ru!_" Sai whined from behind Hikaru, lazy and nearly slouched over as he trudged ahead. "It's so early. There's no reason to hurry."

"_Are you tired? Wait...how can you be tired? Since you're not tired, hurry up!"_

"I'm not tired, Hikaru." Sai replied. "I want to play go!"

"_Well, I don't want to be late!"_

Hikaru gave up Sai for a lost cause and finally ditched him. Sai could eat his dust. That slow poke. That lazy loach. That fussy Heian court ghost with his stupid robes and big hat and no shoes...

"Shindo Hikaru?"

Hikaru skidded to a stop.

He and Sai both blinked up at the ordinary, nondescript, plain forgettable man in front of them. The only interesting thing about him (for Hikaru) was that he was wearing athletic warm-ups.

The man in front of them didn't seem to mind Hikaru (and Sai) staring at him. He only smiled a very friendly, very encouraging smile and looked happy that Hikaru seemed to be the Shindo Hikaru he was waiting for.

"I'm one of the assistant coaches for the Tokyo Team." He informed Hikaru, pointing to himself. "Officially, you're supposed to address me as Assistant Coach Inoha. But you can just call me Ino-san."

"Good morning, Ino-san!" Hikaru nearly shouted, immediately standing at attention. "Shindo Hikaru reporting for duty!"

Ino-san had to make an effort not to change his expression as Hikaru saluted him.

"Um...good morning, Shindo-kun." Ino-san replied. "You can...err...relax."

Hikaru forced himself to relax.

"Am I late, Ino-san?" Hikaru asked, face contorted from simultaneously taking-this-too-seriously and "relaxing".

"I am sorry I am late! I will accept whatever punishment you assign!"

"No, no!" Ino-san waved his arms. "You're early, Shindo-kun."

"I am sorry I am early! I will acc—"

"That's not necessary, Shindo-kun." Ino-san insisted. "I'm here to meet you and show you around the stadium, help you get familiar with the team, and answer any questions you have."

Hikaru took a moment to process this before replying,

"Oh."

Ino-san smiled with relief.

"Come along, Shindo-kun. There's a lot for us to do before practice starts. Your parents have already filled out the proper forms and mailed them back to us. I'm glad your parents are so supportive..."

Hikaru didn't really hear most of that. He just dutifully followed behind the enthusiastic and very nice Ino-san as they walked into the stadium. He was sure he could ask Sai about that stuff later.

* * *

Hikaru had nearly fainted from forgetting how to breathe after Ino-san had presented him with his official Tokyo Team kit, gear, and locker. He had started to change into his practice uniform even before Ino-san had suggested it. And then Hikaru had followed Ino-san around as everything was explained to him, like where the Coach's office was and other boring stuff like that.

By the time Hikaru and Ino-san walked onto the field, there were a dozen boys scattered around. Overly-worried that he was late on his first day, Hikaru didn't even see the last of the boys hurrying onto the field until they ran right past him.

Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't late.

When Coach Takahashi spotted Hikaru and Ino-san arriving, he picked up his whistle.

"Gather up!"

All of his new teammates immediately jogged towards their head coach, and sat down on the ground upon arriving. Having seen them do it, Hikaru did it too.

Coach Takahashi eyed each and every one of the boys as Ino-san took his place standing at his side, the other assistant coach standing at Coach Takahashi's other side.

When Coach got to Hikaru, Hikaru gulped and wondered whether or not he was supposed to wave. He awkwardly jerked his shoulder upwards, but was too nervous to pull his arm up with it.

"Welcome our newest teammate, Shindo Hikaru."

There was a burst of applause from everyone, even Coach Takahashi, Ino-san, and the other assistant coach. A few of the guys near Hikaru congratulated him with friendly pats and one hearty slap on the back to welcome him. Hikaru appreciated all of that.

"He's the only pick this year, and I expect that he'll be a good addition to the team."

Hikaru's eyes widened and he tried as discreetly as possible to look around. Well, he doubted he would have remembered what any of the guys from tryouts looked like anyway. But there just had to be other new guys joining the team! How could he be the only one!? What was the criteria for making it onto the team anyway?!

"Let me explain how this works, Shindo."

Hikaru immediately locked eyes with Coach Takahashi, ready and willing to listen, and forgetting everything else.

"And let me remind any of you, in case you've forgotten." Coach said, gaze turned on the others as a few nervously fidgeted or got nudged by an elbow.

"Shindo, right now, you are a reserve player. If you're good enough, I'll promote you to regular player. But everyone on the team gives me their very best. And everyone on the team contributes to the team's success."

"Today's an exception, but here's the schedule for the Tokyo Team: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are the short practice days for the regular players. Tuesday and Thursday are the short practice days for the reserve players."

"The entire team meets for long practice days, which are on weekends and during your school holiday breaks. And the entire team attends every game, even away games. This isn't a school club. This is an official team. We expect you all to know the difference."

Hikaru flinched as Coach's gaze settled upon his, but Hikaru firmly nodded to show Coach that he understood the responsibilities and expectations of the team.

"That being said," Ino-san smiled at them, adding with the empathetic kindness of a divine savior when in comparison to Coach Takahashi. "This is the off season, so we're much more lenient about attendance. If you need to miss practice, just talk to us in the Coaches Office and we'll arrange it."

Hikaru glanced over at the other assistant coach, a very tall and imposing guy who had not said a word yet. He didn't even look like he was paying any attention to this team meeting.

Coach Takahashi didn't say anything more after Ino-san had added his few words for the team regarding the scheduling. Instead, he straightened up and looked ahead to the soccer field.

"Today's officially new player orientation. That means an in-depth review of drills before today's practice game. Everyone line up! I'm leading you through warm ups today."

Most of the other players groaned, and Hikaru had a feeling that Coach's warm ups were way more demanding than warm-ups should be. But Hikaru still couldn't keep the smile off his face as he scrambled up.

"Shindo!"

Hikaru whipped his head back in the direction of Coach Takahashi. The two assistant coaches were jogging off to join the line of players, but Coach had remained standing where he was with one player from the team at his side. He waved Hikaru to join them.

Hikaru nervously stepped closer to them, wondering if he had somehow done something wrong already.

"Yes, Coach?" Hikaru asked, hoping he didn't sound as nervous and frightened as he felt.

"Shindo, this is Yamamoto Kaito." Coach introduced. "He's one of our reserve goalkeepers, had his tryouts last year. I've spoken to him about you wanting to improve your scoring accuracy. Yamamoto wants to improve his goal reaction. You'll both benefit from practicing with one another."

Hikaru studied the other boy. Even though he was only a year older, Kaito was almost ridiculously taller than Hikaru. And with his normal hair and normal-seeming-ness, he was completely unlike Hikaru with his hard-to-miss bleached bangs and attention-grabbing personality. And he wore the goalie uniform, of which Hikaru had always been secretly jealous of.

Still, even if goalies and strikers had always been natural enemies, Coach had recommended that they work together.

"Hi! I'm Shindo Hikaru." Hikaru grinned, holding out his hand.

"Kaito." Yamamoto Kaito nodded to Hikaru, shaking his hand.

"You two can work out the specifics later. Yamamoto, help Shindo out for today."

"Yes, Coach!" Both Hikaru and Kaito responded before turning to quickly join their teammates on the field.

Today was the best day of Hikaru's life! He was officially a player for the Tokyo Team, therefore making him officially a semi-pro soccer player. And he had made a new friend today, a friend who was his teammate, a teammate who wanted to help him improve the large hole in his game.

"_Aren't you excited, Sai?"_ Hikaru exclaimed.

Sai pouted at the prospect of an entire day centered around Hikaru's beloved _saa-kaa_.

"_Don't sulk, Sai! Ino-san said that today's practice ends before lunch. We can definitely make it to that junior high go tournament to see Akari, Tsutsui-san, and Kaga then."_

"Really, Hikaru?" Sai asked hopefully, looking much more lively than he had all morning.

"_Would I ever lie to you?"_ Hikaru grinned.

Sai did not want to respond with the truth to that question. He clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to run any risk of angering Hikaru and not going to the go tournament.

"_I'm in such a good mood!"_ Hikaru continued cheerily, not thinking to look back at Sai. _"We really have to go cheer the Haze team. I bet they'll win just because I'm cheering for them. Ne, Sai?"_

Sai wisely kept quiet, even placed both of his hands over his mouth. And Hikaru rambled on obliviously, enjoying the best day of his life.

...

**Author's Notes:**

A more serious and responsible Hikaru chapter than usual. I had a hard time writing this chapter since it's not as funny as the others. I like Kaito though.


	12. Winter Junior High Go Tournament I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 12: Winter Junior High Go Tournament I._

...

Hikaru slipped the Touya Mejin Go Tutorial book into the pocket of his gear bag—the regular one, not the official Tokyo Team one he was also carrying—just as the subway train pulled into the station. He and Sai would pour over the pages whenever Hikaru had free time, and a subway ride was the perfect opportunity.

"_You know, Sai,"_ thought Hikaru as he tapped his ticket pass against the reader. _"We've read most of the Touya Meijin book already."_

"Oh, I know very well, Hikaru." Sai smiled happily as Hikaru stuffed the card back into his bag. "It's a fascinating book."

He followed Hikaru as Hikaru jogged up the stairs and out of the station.

"_Well, I was thinking that we should stop at a bookstore sometime and maybe get another go book."_ Hikaru pondered thoughtfully as they joined the flow of traffic on the street.

"But Hikaru, we don't have any money!" exclaimed Sai.

"_Well...I do have the money my mom gave me for that study aid Akari's mom recommended. And it's not as if I was going to read that thing anyway. This way I'm actually learning something!" _Hikaru grinned at the thought of such a happy side effect.

Sai's eyebrows furrowed in troubled thought. On one hand, he really should encourage Hikaru's studies and schoolwork. On the other hand, it was a miraculous event that Hikaru had offered to pay for go at all. And as Hikaru's go tutor, Sai should encourage Hikaru's growing enthusiasm in his go studies...

It was really a decision that would require much contemplation.

* * *

Hikaru stood in front of the gates of Kaio with the shock and awe he had not expressed when standing in front of the gates of Haze. Beside him, Sai was staring in a very similar manner.

"So this is what they mean when they say that it's an elite school." Hikaru whistled appreciatively as he strolled around the grounds.

"This is a setting as expansive as the Emperor's palace." Sai added as he tried to glance all around without looking as if he were doing so.

Hikaru didn't really understand Heian nobles. Hikaru had always been of the opinion that you should just look if you want to look. Looking's free.

"Forget me ever being in a school as nice as this, I don't think I've been in a _place_ as nice as this!" Hikaru said.

When they finally began looking for the building where the Junior High Go Tournament was being held, they found it with the help of an extremely nice teacher. And it was easy to find the room once they found the building since a huge and official-looking sign had been placed outside the door.

But when they walked in, Hikaru could tell from the sparseness of the room that he and Sai had arrived during the lunch break.

"Oh, tournament match-ups," Hikaru said to Sai, studying the large chart placed at the front of the room. "I can understand this."

"Understand what, Hikaru?" Sai asked curiously.

"_It's just like the setup for soccer tournaments, I think."_ Hikaru explained. _"Looks like a single-elimination tournament, which means only the winning team advances forward. There are three players on a team... Hmm...and they play individual games... I guess two players have to win two of the three games for the team to advance then."_

"That sounds likely." Sai nodded eagerly in agreement. Sai hadn't understood tournament setups when Hikaru had explained the _saa-kaa_ ones to him, but it was so much simpler when explained in terms of go.

"Let's see how Haze did." Hikaru mumbled as he traced the board for the familiar school name. "If they haven't lost yet, they should still be here."

"_Hey! They made it to the semi-finals!"_ Hikaru announced to Sai, pointing up at the chart. _"They're still here. Let's go find them, Sai."_

Hikaru had to ask several other people before he found out where the Haze team went. Well, the first few people he had asked hadn't even known what Haze was. Luckily, the last person Hikaru had asked had seen the Haze team heading into one of the empty classrooms.

Hikaru quietly snuck down the hall and up to the classroom his friends were in. He wanted to surprise them. Sai followed normally behind him, but they couldn't _see _Sai.

Kaga's voice easily carried out into the hall for everyone to recognize. He also heard Tsutsui-san's strained reply to whatever Kaga had said from behind the door.

Sure that he had gotten the right place, Hikaru muffled his own laughter and lunged in.

The door banged loudly as Hikaru pulled it open, startling all three occupants in the room.

And Hikaru tried really hard not to laugh. He really did.

"BWAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Hikaru!" Akari exclaimed.

"Shindo!" Kaga roared, grabbing Hikaru by the collar and throwing him into the classroom.

Kaga stuck his head out into the hall to make sure they hadn't attracted any attention. After he was sure that it was clear, Kaga promptly shut the door.

Hikaru was still laughing when Kaga came back in. In fact, Hikaru was clutching his stomach, unable to breathe.

"Shindo-kun, calm down!" Tsutsui begged.

Hikaru tried his best to regain his composure. But one look at Akari and he was pointing at her and laughing again.

Kaga hit him in the back of the head.

Meanwhile, Akari was fuming at Hikaru. She crossed her arms in her too-long sleeves over her too-big Haze uniform jacket. The matching pants were rolled up at the ankles. And she had borrowed a pair of sneakers Hikaru had outgrown, but they looked out-of-character and clumsy on her feet even if they were the right size.

Everything about that was funny to Hikaru. But the funniest thing of all wasn't that Akari looked like she had dressed up in her older brother's school uniform. It was that Akari's best attempt at looking like a boy was simply to hide all of her hair underneath a baseball cap.

"You're terrible at disguises, Akari." Hikaru told her, wiping tears from his eyes.

Akari's face turned bright red.

"Hikaru!" Akari stamped her feet in frustration.

"Man, I hope you changed your voice when you were playing, Akari. You sound like a total girl."

"Shut up, Hikaru!" Akari snapped at him.

"Who'd be dumb enough to fall for this?" Hikaru asked the others, pointing at Akari again.

"Everyone so far!" Kaga slapped Hikaru in the back of the head again. "Ya idiot!"

Hikaru rubbed at the back of his abused head while glaring at Kaga.

"At least..." said Tsutsui, nervously biting at his lower lip. "We hope so."

"There's someone here from our neighborhood." Akari told Hikaru pointedly. "I think you play soccer with him. And he hasn't noticed me, so this disguise is good enough."

"Still..." Hikaru mumbled under his breath.

He ducked this time when Kaga moved to hit him.

"Hey, I saw that you made it to the semi-finals!" Hikaru exclaimed excitedly, remembering why he was here in the first place. "I'm here to cheer for you guys!"

He gave them all an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Thank you, Shindo-kun." Tsutsui said with some relief.

"So..." Hikaru folded his hands behind his head.

"I guess Akari's pretty good at go after all." Hikaru observed with some surprise.

Akari glared at him.

"She is very diligent in our Community Go Class, Hikaru." Sai reminded him. "You should follow her example and return to study alongside Akari-chan."

"_Why? I already have you bothering me about go every single second of the day."_ Hikaru replied, looking up at Sai blankly.

Sai blinked down at him.

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this, Hikaru." Akari bemoaned her fate, holding her face in her hands.

"Why not?" said Hikaru. "This is much better than the first idea of having me play in the tournament."

"I feel like I'm a character in a shojo manga." Akari groaned.

"But you're pulling it off, Akari." Hikaru assured her earnestly. "You're a more believable junior high schooler; you're bigger and taller than me."

Akari turned bright red. And then she punched Hikaru...**hard**.

Beside her, both Kaga and even Tsutsui shook their heads at Hikaru's obliviousness. They nodded in agreement with Akari's response.

...

**Author's Notes: **

I wish I could have written more about Akari dressed up as a boy, especially Kaga's and Tsutsui's reactions when the three of them met up for the tournament that morning. I'll leave it up to the readers to imagine what happened. Go wild!


	13. Winter Junior High Go Tournament II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 13: Winter Junior High Go Tournament II._

...

Hikaru and Sai waited with bated breaths. Hikaru inched forwards from where he had been watching along the wall. Sai remained perfectly still in his seated position.

With a sigh, Tsutsui pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I resign."

"Thank you for the game." Tsutsui smiled bittersweetly.

"With 2 wins and 1 loss in the final," The head official announced at the conclusion of the matches. "The winner is Kaio."

Hikaru looked at his friends. Haze had made it to the finals. But Kaga and Akari had lost.

Kaga looked resigned to their fate. The rumors had been true; Kaio had been a level above.

Tsutsui was disappointed that they had lost. But Haze had made it to the finals in their first year of competition, and that was better than he ever imagined.

However, Akari was taking it the hardest. She sat very still in front of the board, staring hard at a single intersecting point.

The Kaio team led the crowd away from the Haze team and across the room for the award presentation. It was only after he had given them a few moments that Hikaru dared to come up to them.

Hikaru walked up with careful steps. "You guys played super well! That's the most important part."

He smiled brightly in Akari's direction, but Akari didn't even turn to face him.

"Hey, Akari..." Hikaru reached out to her, patting her on the shoulder.

It was then that Akari broke down, bursting into tears. Hikaru leapt back by instinct. And then he shut down immediately upon seeing Akari sobbing into her hands. He felt like a deer trapped by headlights.

"Hikaru!" Sai panicked accordingly. "Do something!"

"Uh...um—A-A-Aka-ri..." Hikaru stuttered uselessly.

He never did know what to do when Akari cried. When they had been little, he used to just stand there and gape at her with his mouth open.

"I'm so sorry!" Akari exclaimed, collapsing onto the table, her head in her arms. "I'm sorry, Tsutsui-san, Kaga-san! I shouldn't even have been in this tournament."

"No, no!" Tsutsui waved his hands in front of him. "We couldn't even have entered the tournament without you, Fujisaki-san. Don't think that way."

"But I lost!" Akari sobbed.

Kaga sighed.

"Well, I lost too." Kaga told her. "And I was the captain, so I should be taking it the hardest. Stop crying, Fujisaki. You're supposed to be a boy!"

Akari immediately froze at those words. With only a couple of sniffles, she quickly wiped her face and sat up straight. But Hikaru couldn't even laugh at how awful she looked right now, not when team morale was so low.

"Hey guys!" Hikaru spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

Kaga and Tsutsui were looking at him like he was an idiot. And Akari's face remained stressed-out, unanimated, completely unnatural, the look on her face after having been reminded that she was supposed to be a boy.

"My old coach for my school team always told us that it's not winning or losing that matters, but that you played the game as well as you could." Hikaru told them.

Beside him, Sai nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you play go for enjoyment above all else." Sai told them.

"But my new coach for the Tokyo Team told me something different today," Hikaru continued.

Sai did a double take. He immediately stopped his nodding in agreement as soon as the words registered in his head.

"Hikaru! I don't think—"

"Coach said that there are winners and there are losers. And if you lost, then you're a loser." Hikaru announced.

Tsutsui and Akari both flinched. Kaga looked ready to pummel Hikaru.

"But Coach also told us that's the reason why there are winners and losers. No one wants to be the loser. If you lost, you're a loser. That's it. Done. Look up the definition of the word because that's all there is to it. But if winning meant anything to you at all, then you should feel awful."

Hikaru eyed the Haze team with seriousness none of the other three—even Akari—had ever even expected Hikaru to be capable of before. They had no choice but to listen.

"If you want to win, you just make sure you're not the loser the next time. If you're actually serious about it, then you'll practice and train and put everything you have into it. Then you'll put in twice as much as that! Don't think that it's going to be easy or that you're going to be lucky or that you have any special talent or genius or magic to help you do it. You win by hard work and determination. And if you deserve it, then you'll be the winners instead of the losers."

Hikaru stared at his friends, willing them to understand. Hikaru wasn't really sure how well soccer transferred to go, but this was the best way he knew to help his friends right now.

"You're right, Shindo-kun." Tsutsui spoke up.

Hikaru blinked at him.

"I am?" Hikaru pointed to himself.

"Unfortunately," Kaga grunted. "And as unlikely as it seems."

"Hey!" exclaimed Hikaru.

Kaga just jovially messed up his hair. Something which Hikaru did not appreciate.

"Hikaru..."

Hikaru turned to the last of the team. He had no idea what to expect from the hesitant expression on Akari's face.

Akari smiled at him.

"Thanks."

Hikaru grinned back, relieved to see her back to normal. He was happy that he was able to help his friends when they had needed it.

"That was a nice thing you did, Hikaru." Sai told him.

"_Well, of course it was."_ Hikaru replied. _"I'm nice, after all. Plus I came to cheer for them today. I would be a loser of a cheerleader if they left depressed."_

As Hikaru laughed to himself, Sai once again wondered if the difference between his thinking and Hikaru's was the thousand year age gap...or because Hikaru was just a strange child.

"Ano... Excuse me."

Everyone turned around immediately, facing the unexpected voice.

"You!" Kaga pointed straight at him.

The newcomer faced Kaga with an expression of polite inquiry.

"Touya Akira!"

...

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry it's another cliffhanger. I'll reward you for your loyalty with an extra-long Touya chapter next! And it'll be the end of another arc, so you'll get an extra/omake too!


	14. Winter Junior High Go Tournament III

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 14: Winter Junior High Go Tournament III._

...

"Touya Akira?" Hikaru asked, swiveling behind him to get a good look.

Hikaru broke away from his group of friends, heading towards the lone Touya standing just a bit apart from them.

"Hey, Touya!" Hikaru waved with exuberant cheerfulness. "How long have you been here? I didn't see you. Too bad! We could've watched the tournament together."

Akira attempted to smile as Hikaru approached him, though it turned apologetic as Hikaru finished his greeting. He fidgeted nervously, acutely aware that all of Hikaru's friends were staring at him.

"Good afternoon, Shindo-san." Akira greeted Hikaru with a polite nod.

"Aww, quit it with the Shindo-san." Hikaru waved away the honorific. "Just call me Hikaru. Wait—Actually, you're not the type, huh?"

Hikaru rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, you can call me Hikaru or you can call me Shindo. I like both."

Akira felt elation that his friend knew him well enough to anticipate his preferences. And he was pleased by the invitation to call Hikaru without an honorific. He had never had anyone in his age group to invite him to do so.

"Thank you, Shindo-sa—" Akira shook his head at his mistake.

"Shindo." Akira addressed Hikaru directly, making sure it was alright.

"Nice. Then I'll call you Touya." Hikaru grinned, giving Akira a thumbs-up.

Akira returned with a tentative smile, happy that he had come over no matter his previous anxiety.

"Hikaru?" Akari asked. "Who's this?"

"This is Touya." Hikaru introduced, wheeling Akira over towards the group by his shoulders. "We met at the Children's Go Tournament. He's my friend."

"Touya, this is Tsutsui-san and Kaga and Aka—OW!"

Akari glared at Hikaru as Hikaru gripped the foot she had just stomped on. She pulled her cap further down over her face, reminding the dense Hikaru that she was supposed to be a boy right now and not to introduce her to anyone.

Hikaru hopped on one foot as he rubbed at the other, but he got the message.

"Err...yeah, these are my friends from Haze." Hikaru painfully finished the introductions, grimacing as he did.

Akira looked at the group. He couldn't see Akari's face at all. And Tsutsui was staring at him with the shock and awe that those who knew his name usually had when seeing him.

But the other boy...Kaga was glaring at him.

"The go world's a small place, huh?" Hikaru continued talking obliviously. "To think that we would run into each other at a junior high tournament. You must really like go, Touya."

"Yes, I do." Touya nodded absently to Hikaru.

He looked back at Kaga, only to have him glare more. Akira instinctively took a step closer towards Hikaru.

"However, I'm here for my school interview today. I only came in towards the end of the tournament." Akira confessed to Hikaru as he kept a wary eye on Kaga.

"Whoa, for Kaio?" Hikaru whistled appreciatively. "You're really smart then, Touya. I'm going to Haze in the spring. I'm not smart enough to go here, not unless you give soccer scholarships. But then again, I can't play for the school team anyway."

"Oh, does that mean that you made...the Tokyo team?" Touya questioned uncertainly, not quite sure of the name.

"Yep!" Hikaru beamed, glad to have someone he could brag to. "I'm semi-pro now! I guess this means I'm a genius when it comes to soccer."

Hikaru laughed loudly at his own joke, though no one else did.

Akari rolled her eyes at Hikaru's stupid joke. Both Akira and Tsutsui attempted laughter to be polite. But Kaga wasn't even listening to them.

"So, Touya," Kaga interrupted menacingly. "Are you taking the pro exam this year?"

"Huh?" Hikaru asked, utterly confused. "Pro exam? What are you talking about?"

"You take an exam held by the Go Institute to become a professional go player." Tsutsui explained. "Only three players pass each year."

"Well, Touya?" Kaga stepped forward before Tsutsui could explain any more. "You were already better than most insei the last time we played together. You must be strong enough to be a pro by now."

Akira looked at Kaga again, trying to remember if he had ever played against him. That playing style during the final match did seem familiar...

"Hey! Quit it, Kaga." Hikaru stepped forwards in defense of Akira. "What's your problem? Why are you picking on Touya like that?"

"Hikaru..." Sai warned worriedly from Hikaru's side, trying to calm Hikaru down. "Perhaps Kaga-kun isn't 'picking on' Touya-kun after all."

"_I don't know if he is, but it sure seems like it."_ Hikaru replied with a huff, still glaring up at Kaga.

"Why can't I pick on the #1?" Kaga remarked acidly.

And suddenly, Akira recognized Kaga Tetsuo.

_Flashback_

_Akira stood still at the top of the stairs, leaning against the banister._

"_Win today. Otherwise, you can't come home." That boy's father said as he walked down the stairwell._

_Later..._

"_What can I do? Those that are strong are strong." That boy—Kaga Tetsuo—told him. "It's true that you play a higher level of go. You are the clear #1."_

_Akira watched the other boy grin smugly as they arranged the go board and stones between them on the table._

"_But one day, I'm gonna be #1. Prepare yourself, Touya. Now let's play."_

_Akira looked down at the board between them and he remembered what that boy's father said to him. It's cold outside and the other boy is only wearing a sweatshirt. Where would the boy go? Would he be able to sleep? _

_He's talking so easily, as if his father hadn't said those things to him, as if Akira hadn't overheard...as if Kaga Tetsuo hadn't run into him standing at the top of the stairs._

"_Should...I lose?"_

_Akira knows that Kaga Tetsuo cannot win. They've played together enough times for Akira to know that, enough times for Kaga Tetsuo to know that._

_The other boy doesn't say anything for a long time. Akira is afraid to look up. Instead, his gaze is fixated on the board in front of them._

"_Let's just play." Kaga told him. But Akira could hear the gruffness in Kaga's voice._

_He placed a handful of stones on the board. And they played their game together. They didn't speak a single word._

_Kaga Tetsuo won by a moku and a half._

_Even__ after it was over, both Akira and Kaga only stared at the board in front of them. And when Akira's father came to pick him up, Akira silently cleared his side of the board and left the unmoving Kaga Tetsuo._

_End Flashback_

Kaga glared at him.

And Akira lowered his head from the regret of that memory. He had spoken to his father about the game when they had returned home. And his father had told him that, while Kaga's father was the one in the wrong, Kaga Tetsuo had probably been more hurt by Akira's actions. He had probably thought of Akira as his rival.

"Oi! Oi!" Hikaru called out, alarmed by Touya's falling mood. "What's wrong with you guys? You played go together before, so what?"

"Kaga, do you and Touya-san have some kind of history together?" Tsutsui asked, looking worriedly from one to the other.

"Whatever happened, I'm sure you can both work it out if you talk to one another." Akari added.

Kaga didn't respond.

And Akira understands that Hikaru was Kaga's friend first so...

"I should be going, Shindo-san."

Now, Hikaru had taken a lot in a short amount of time. He had meant to introduce his friend to his other friends, that was all. But then there was a test. And three people are going pro this year. And it seemed as if Kaga had a problem with Touya. They had played go together before or something. And for some reason, because they had played go together, Touya had to leave and not be Hikaru's friend.

And Touya was back to calling him Shindo-san!

"ARGH! Why is everyone I know obsessed with go?" Hikaru questioned dramatically, clutching at his head. "Why go? Why? I made the Tokyo team! I'm a semi-pro player now! Soccer! Soccer is the best!"

Everyone just stared at him, too shocked to know what to do.

"You guys take go too seriously!" Hikaru accused, pointing in the general direction of everyone.

Actually, he was pointing straight at Sai. But no one could see Sai.

Sai blinked down at Hikaru, raising his hand slowly to point at himself.

"Me?" Sai questioned Hikaru.

"Yeah, you!" Hikaru shouted. "You most of all!"

Akari and Tsutsui and Kaga and Akira became even more confused.

"It's just a game!" declared Hikaru. "Geez, for smart people, you're all crazy! Go is just a game. Soccer is just a game. You play games to have fun. So stop not being friends and holding grudges and making one person leave for no reason. That's the opposite of having fun!"

Hikaru ended his rant by crossing his arms and turning away from them with a big...

"HMPH!"

Everyone continued to stare at Hikaru, speechless. Akari was looking at him like he was an idiot. Tsutsui was attempting to find words, but failing to think of any. Akira was too shocked to even be polite.

And Kaga laughed.

He laughed long and hard, bracing himself against a desk, slapping his knee.

"Shindo, you're an interesting kid." Kaga finally said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Hikaru glared at him.

"But you're right." Kaga continued. "Whatever happened in the past between me and Touya is go history. Besides, shogi's the best game anyway."

Tsutsui, Akira, Hikaru, and Sai all took offense to that.

"Soccer's the best!" Hikaru shouted.

"Go's the best!" Sai shouted.

Fortunately, before the tantrum could go any further, Kaga extended his hand.

Only Akira could see Kaga's expression then.

They shook hands, and all was forgiven.

...

**Author's Notes:**

There, I answered it. Kaga loves shogi the best.

...

**Extra/Omake #3: Touya Akira's Super Anxiety in a Situation That Requires No Anxiety**

Touya Akira hadn't really been interested in attending the Junior High Go Tournament being held at Kaio. He was pretty sure that his interview with the principal had been scheduled to "coincidently" coincide with the tournament. But it would have been rude to decline the invitation. And so, it was only out of politeness that he was following the principal to the tournament hall for the award presentation.

Akira hadn't been expecting anything interesting at this go event.

"It looks as if this is the finals match." The principal said to Akira as they entered the room.

Akira could already see the sparks of recognition in the eyes of some of the participants. He sighed inaudibly as those that recognized him began to turn to those beside them to point out his presence.

"I'll leave you alone to watch the match. I have some business to take care of with the teachers." The principal said to Akira kindly.

Akira nodded the affirmative before he was left to his own devices. The principal crossed the room towards the cluster of teachers. More and more students were informed that "The Touya Akira" was in the room. And Akira stood alone in a corner, not too far from where the finals match was being played, idly watching the boy's team finals match without paying too much attention.

In idle times such as this, Akira thought back to the boy he had met at the Children's Go Tournament. He wondered when he would encounter Shindo-san again. Akira had attended the few go events held in the short time since they had last met hoping to see Hikaru. But he had also been more than aware that the go events he had attended weren't likely to attract the interest of any of his age group.

Sighing once again, Akira watched as the captain's board resigned. That game had been one-sided, the Kaio captain dominating from the start. The opposing team captain had been correct to resign.

A flash of bright blue and electric yellow within the crowd of school uniforms caught Akira's attention. Akira recognized it as an athletic bag for sports gear. The strap was slung across the chest of one of the onlookers, who was curiously carrying two such bags. A similar but differently-colored bag was at his other side, the two straps crisscrossing over a brightly-colored soccer jersey and warm-up suit.

Akira's breath caught in his chest, his eyes widening in recognition.

Shindo Hikaru stood behind the team opposing Kaio, looking intently at the boards still in play.

For a moment, Akira just stood there blinking. He couldn't really believe what he was seeing.

Akira made sure he was still holding onto his coat and took a step forward...

...only to take a step back and remain in the same position.

What if he was mistaken? What if this was just another boy his age in a soccer jersey at a go event?

Akira shook his head. No, there was no mistaking the odd hairstyle. This was definitely Shindo Hikaru.

But what if Hikaru didn't remember him? What if Akira went over there and interrupted him and Hikaru didn't even know who he was? That would be embarrassing. No, it would be unbearable. It meant that, to Shindo Hikaru, their meeting had been insignificant. And meanwhile, Akira had been analyzing the event over and over again, pinpointing his mistakes, making mental notes to improve.

It was what he did to study go games. It had been natural to him to do the same for friendship. But now it seemed strange and off-putting.

Akira watched as Hikaru said something to the team captain who had just resigned. They were familiar with one another. It was likely that they were friends and Hikaru was here to support that team.

For a moment, Akira deflated in disappointment. For some reason, he hadn't thought of Hikaru having other friends. It was suddenly obvious to him that Hikaru would have many friends. Hikaru was the type of person to make many friends. It shouldn't have been surprising that Hikaru was attending this school tournament in support of his friends.

Akira felt the distance between them grow infinitely larger even though he hadn't physically moved.

He didn't have the courage to insert himself in a group. He would feel intrusive and unwanted, like he always did when he tried to approach a pair or group of friends. It wasn't often that he was welcomed amongst them, and never before had he successfully joined a group without feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

But the longer Akira stood there, the more dissatisfied he became with his position.

It wasn't in his nature to just give up. If this were a go game, and his stones were being challenged from all sides, Akira would dig in and fight his way out.

But this wasn't just a go game he wanted to win. Akira wanted to be Hikaru's friend.

So, with a deep breath (and denying the overwhelming anxiety he felt), Akira checked to make sure he had his coat, and took a step forward.


	15. Tokyo Teammates

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 15: Tokyo Teammates_

...

"Yo, Shindo!"

Hikaru waved to his teammate from across the field to show that he had arrived properly.

And with a grin, Hikaru decided to show off a little. Once his cleats stepped onto the grass, Hikaru dropped his ball to the ground and greeted Kaito with a jaw-dropping kick.

Sai grimaced behind his fan as they all watched the ball sail wide and Kaito actually had to run to catch it before it became irretrievable.

"Impressive!" Sai leapt up immediately, shading his eyes against the sun as one would to observe the far-off horizon. "The ball has gone a truly great distance, Hikaru!"

Sai sneaked a glance at Hikaru. Hikaru winced painfully at Sai's well-meaning encouragement, but forced a half-hearted grin anyway.

"_Thanks, Sai."_ Hikaru tried to sound cheerful.

Meanwhile, Hikaru's teammate came jogging up to where Hikaru was standing, ball in hand.

"Ehh, was that supposed to have come to me?" Kaito laughed, tossing the ball back to Hikaru.

Not expecting it, Hikaru jerked to attention too late and caught the ball with his face.

"Oh! Sorry, Shindo! I thought you would have caught that." Kaito apologized profusely as Hikaru rubbed at his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Hikaru exclaimed a little too loudly.

The words echoed throughout the field in the following silence. Hikaru was sure that they could all hear the wind blowing in the distance.

"Err..." Kaito addressed Hikaru, peering down uncertainly at the much shorter player.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Shindo."

"Senpai, I will try my best!" Hikaru shouted, saluting the much taller player from his tense, stiff, uncomfortable posture.

"You don't have to call me senpai either." Kaito told him, picking up the ball from the ground. "I'm only a year older than you are, and we're both reserve players anyway. Just call me Kaito."

"Err...if that's what you want Sen—"

Hikaru violently shook the cobwebs from his head, trying to knock some sense into himself with his fist. If he couldn't even call his senpai by the name his senpai preferred, how was he going to show Kaito-senpai that he was taking this seriously?

Kaito waited patiently, grinning lopsidedly at Hikaru when Hikaru looked up at him.

"_Kai...to_?" Hikaru replied uncertainly, tilting his head just so.

Kaito grinned again, the same lopsided grin but more cheerful.

"Now that that's done," said Kaito. "What do you think of our practice field, Shindo?"

Hikaru glanced around the empty lot. If he had to compare it to any of the other fields he had ever played on, it was closer to his old elementary school field than the Tokyo team's official stadium.

Instead of perfect artificial turf, the grass was real and dry and patchy. The goalposts were old, and the paint was chipping, but at least the nets looked to be in good condition. A set of standard aluminum bleachers sat empty on either side of the field. And Hikaru could tell that the lines hadn't been chalked in a while.

The field was an outdoor one, no stadium lights, and surrounded by a chain-link fence. A freeway overpass ran overhead in a corner of the lot, but thankfully not over the playing field. The soccer field they were using was the rooftop level of a mostly-underground parking structure.

Hikaru tried to be subtle as he glanced across the street towards their fancy indoor stadium.

Kaito laughed.

"This used to be the official field for the Tokyo Team before we moved into the indoor field." Kaito explained, glancing around the field fondly. "We removed all of the signs and stuff, but we kept the field for practice."

"I thought we could use the stadium for practice?" Hikaru looked up at Kaito questioningly.

"There's no way we're going to get any practice time on the real field." Kaito rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "We're the newest on the reserve team, and that means we're the bottom rung, least priority. Only the regulars are guaranteed practice time on the stadium field."

Hikaru stared at Kaito with horror.

"Well, this isn't so bad." Kaito laughed again, tossing the ball to Hikaru.

This time, Hikaru caught it properly by the chest (though a little heavily) and handled it moderately-well with his feet.

Kaito watched all of this with a critical eye.

"I'm better under pressure! The heat of the game brings out the best in me!" Hikaru assured Kaito, waving his arms around wildly.

"Yeah!" Sai spoke up in Hikaru's defense. "Though I have yet to see Hikaru play in an official game, I believe him!"

Hikaru groaned.

"Calm down, Shindo." Kaito held his hands up, hoping Hikaru would unwind a little. "I'm not here to judge you."

Upon seeing Hikaru's look of complete disbelief however, Kaito continued,

"We're teammates, Shindo. I'm here to help you just like you're here to help me."

Hikaru knew that Kaito was, in many ways, the complete opposite of himself. Hikaru was short for his age, and continually had to take everyone's teasing for his height. Kaito was a head taller than him and it was hard to believe that he was only a year older. And as a goalie, Kaito was also Hikaru's natural enemy as a forward. However, above all of their differences, they were teammates.

"No, sorry, I get it." Hikaru said, trying his best to smile.

The smile was uneven and just a little painful to watch, but Kaito grinned back anyway.

"I suppose I'm just a little nervous that's all." Hikaru chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm sure you'll loosen up once we start our practice." Kaito grinned. "Let's play well together, Shindo."

"Yeah!" Hikaru cheered, eagerly leaping to his warmups. "We'll be regulars in no time!"

His only answer to that was Kaito's good-natured laughter.

...

**Author's Notes: **

I wasn't too sure about adding an original character, but I really like Kaito. (He's so easy to write!)

Also, I hope that it has become absolutely clear that this is a **SOCCER + GO** story. That means that I will be writing about Hikaru's soccer _and_ go. And I will continue to do so because, similar to my characterization of Hikaru, I like both soccer and go.


	16. Haze Go Club I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 16: Haze Go Club I._

...

Spring arrived, and with it a new school year at a new school. Most of the guys from Hikaru's soccer team had also been admitted to Haze, and all of those guys had given Hikaru a hard time about all of the fun he would be missing not being able to play on the middle school team with them.

Of course, Hikaru refused to show them any regret he had not playing on the school team.

Sai had pointed out that Hikaru's barely-held-back tears and sad pout had given him away.

Still, Hikaru wouldn't have given up his spot on the Tokyo team to anyone. He woke up before dawn each morning for a jog before breakfast. He looked forward to his weekend practices all week. He showed up for all of the weekday practices ready to go. And Hikaru and Kaito had even arranged to meet on the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the regulars practiced together so that the two of them could practice on their own.

Hikaru could count on Kaito to meet him most days, but some days even Hikaru needed a break.

"Hey, Akari!" Hikaru called out from across the classroom.

Akari's irritated glare was enough to let Hikaru know that he had her attention.

"The Go Club meeting today?" Hikaru asked.

At the mention of the newly-formed Haze Go Club, Akari immediately brightened.

"You're going to stop by today, Hikaru?" Akari asked. "Don't have you soccer practice or training or something?"

"Not today." Hikaru replied. "Kaito has some kind of family thing, so I thought I would drop by the Go Club today."

"Just let me pack up my things then and we'll go together!" Akari called back cheerfully across the classroom.

Hikaru grinned, happy that the Go Club was actually meeting tday. He immediately shoved all of his stuff from his desk into his open backpack, no time for something as trivial as being orderly when he was excited.

And Sai wasn't even going to lecture him about it today because no one was happier to be going to Go Club than Sai.

"Bye, Hikaru!"

"Later, Shindo."

Hikaru waved goodbye to his friends as they passed him on the way out of the classroom.

"Go, Go, Go!" Sai chirped happily in a sing-song manner as Hikaru waited for Akari at the door.

"_I don't know if it's our shared feelings thing or not, but I'm looking forward to going to the club today too."_ Hikaru told Sai, grinning happily to himself. _"It's a nice break from training."_

"Hikaru, you have been playing too much _saa-kaa_ lately." Sai jumped onto the new subject with a worried frown.

"_Training! I just said it was training!"_

"Playing too much soccer will not help you if you exhaust yourself." Sai continued lecturing Hikaru, this time admonishing Hikaru by waving his closed fan at him.

Hikaru only rolled his eyes. Sai was hopeless when it came to soccer.

"If you're serious in your pursuit, you must be aware of your health and well-being. When I was your age, there was a spring in which the sakura had bloomed late, and I had come down with a terrible cold. It all began when I had taken to studying a particularly thrilling game of go between one of the Generals—I forget which—and the Minister of Court Affairs. You see, the General had opened the game with a territorial approach during fuseki. But the Minister was well-known for his fuseki of influence-oriented approach. And the game grew even more exciting when the General attacked with an aggressive joseki in the left-hand corner. Hikaru, I will replay this game for you during your tutoring this evening. This game would be a great study in..."

"Hikaru, are you ready?"

Hikaru blinked at Akari, who he hadn't noticed had walked right up to him.

"Yep!" Hikaru replied, following Akari as they made their way towards the biology classroom.

Akari then started telling him the story of the cat that stole her mother's fish for the third time.

Sai was still going on and on about some go game that was played a thousand years ago.

And Hikaru hid his sigh as he listened to both without a word. When you possess a go-obsessed ghost, you become really good at listening to two different conversations.

* * *

There were only three members to the Haze Go Club: Tsutsui Kimihiro (2nd year), Fujisaki Akari (1st year), and Shindo Hikaru (1st year).

And Hikaru couldn't even participate in any tournaments or attend most of the meetings. He was only listed as a member because the school required that there be at least three members in order for it to be recognized as a club.

"We're going to need another member." Kimihiro sighed as he and Hikaru set up the beat-up, old goban in the middle of the room as Akari set up the foldable board.

"What? Why?" Hikaru asked.

"Kaga told me that he'll be willing to be our captain again in the Spring Go Tournament, since he's free that day, but we're still short one male student for the team." Kimihiro replied.

"What about Akari?" Hikaru pointed at Akari. "Just have Akari dress up as a boy again."

Akari smacked him in the back of the head.

"I'm not doing that again!" Akari firmly told them.

"It worked before." Hikaru grumbled as he sulkily rubbed at the back of his head.

"Yeah, and we're lucky we didn't get caught!" Akari snapped at him. "We're not stupid enough to tempt fate again."

"Huh?" Hikaru stared at her in confusion.

Both Akari and Kimihiro rolled their eyes at their least-cultured member.

"Besides, I'm not good enough to play on the team anyway." Akari quietly admitted.

"You didn't feel that way before." Hikaru pointed out tactlessly. "And you even won a game."

"That's because the guy I played against was even worse than me!" Akari exclaimed. "And it was different before. I didn't know what I was getting into. Now that I do, I know that I'm not ready to make the cut."

Hikaru didn't really understand what Akari was saying about 'not being good enough' for the go team (she had been on it before), but he could understand what it felt like not to make the cut. He was, after all, the newest member of the reserves. If they were going to announce members for the team, according to the team hierarchy, Hikaru would have been the first to be cut.

Awkwardly, Hikaru lightly patted Akari on the back without looking at her.

He was sure she was smiling a little, even if he couldn't see her anyway. She always had the same watery smile on her face every time he patted her back when she cried.

"Are you sure you won't be able to play in the tournament, Shindo-kun?" Kimihiro asked pleadingly.

Hikaru shook his head.

"I have all-day practices on the weekend. And I'm not even supposed to be in a school club now that I'm on the team. I only joined because you need three members." Hikaru reminded them with a sigh.

"Yes, that's true." Kimihiro dropped onto one of the desks with a sigh. "I'm sorry to have asked so much of you already, Shindo-kun."

"Nah," Hikaru waved Kimihiro's apology away. "You guys have been working much harder than me. And Tsutsui-sempai, you've worked hard for the Go Club even before it was a club."

At this, Kimihiro managed a small smile as well.

"Don't worry about it, Shindo-kun." Kimihiro assured Hikaru. "I'm sure we'll find the third member of the team. We're working too hard not to succeed."

"But still..." Akari dejectedly laid her head down on the same table as Kimihiro. "We need another member quick if we're going to participate in the Spring Tournament."

"AGH!" Akari exclaimed in frustration, before burying her head into her hands. "It'll be best if they know how to play go, but I'm thinking that anyone will be fine by now."

"I'll be happy with just a body to sit in the chair." Kimihiro added with another long sigh.

Hikaru looked worriedly at his friends. This club meant a lot to Kimihiro and Akari, but they barely even made the required members quota to even have it be an official school club. Compared to the school soccer club—which Hikaru had already been invited to play with enough times to be intimately familiar—the go club was embarrassing. Most of the sports clubs at their school had too many members.

Even worse than that, Hikaru had overhead the rumors and gossip surrounding the "pathetic Go Club members". The Go Club's rising reputation wasn't helping the already-unpopular club gain any members. And if Hikaru weren't so well-known as a friend of the Go Club, those rumors would have been said to his face. That's how widespread they were!

"Hey! Quit sulking!" Hikaru shouted, causing Akari and Kimihiro to nearly leap out of their skins.

"I know what'll cheer you up." Hikaru grinned. "Go! Who wants to play me first? I'll go easy on you. We'll play a nice teaching game today."

"_Hi-ka-ru!_ Hikaru!" Sai inched up closer and closer to the goban, staring at it reverently.

"_Yeah, yeah,"_ Hikaru once again rolled his eyes at the ghost. _"What I really mean is, you'll be playing the teaching game, Sai. Just go easy on them."_

"Yay! Hikaru's the best!" Sai cheered, hugging Hikaru enthusiastically.

"_Besides, I'm going to be the one to get another player for the Go Club."_ Hikaru grinned.

"Hikaru, how are you going to do that?" Sai asked, wide-eyed with disbelief and awe. "Neither Tsutsui-kun or Akari-chan have been able to get any interest when they're working their hardest. How are you going to be able to when you haven't even tried yet?"

"_Don't worry about that, Sai."_ Hikaru replied immediately, waving away the ghost's worries. _"You just sit back and watch me do it."_

...

**Author's Notes:**

I did a lot of research into the court system of the Heian period, as well as historical and influential figures. But all I got was a lot of information that I couldn't use. I realized that I don't know when Sai lived or when he entered the Emperor's Court. So, in the end, I just wrote generic titles instead of real people when Sai is describing that go game from his childhood. :[


	17. Haze Go Club II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 17: Haze Go Club II._

...

"Hikaru, what are we doing here?"

Hikaru looked away from looking suspicious in front of the Kaio school gates, up at the ridiculously tall go ghost he was attached to.

Sai stood behind him, crouched over with his old-fashioned silk cloak covering him from his large hat down to his shoeless feet.

"_What are _you_ doing?"_ Hikaru asked, looking up at Sai incredulously.

Sai blinked down at him.

"Are we not hiding from sight?" Sai asked uncertainly.

"I_ am, but why do you look like that?"_

"This is how one hid when I was alive." Sai explained, pulling his cloak tighter around him.

"Just in what way does your outfit conceal you?! You're even more noticeable walking around like that!"

"How uncouth of you, Hikaru! During the Heian period, nobles didn't possess the freedom to go wherever they pleased. If one were to venture into the town amongst the common, one must conceal their noble clothing or be recognized as a member of the higher class!" Sai explained with a huff.

"_So you're just trying to hide your _clothes_ right now?"_

"Is that not what you're doing behind the gate pillar?"

"_Why didn't you just wear commoner's clothes if you didn't want to be noticed by commoners?!"_

"Well! Of course that's because...err...well... Huh, there must have been a good reason why..." Sai trailed off thoughtfully.

"_And why do you have to hide in the first place?"_ Hikaru demanded, glaring at Sai. _"You're a ghost! No one else can see you."_

As Hikaru's careless words settled upon the unfortunate ghost, Sai's eyes began to well with tears.

"WAH! Hikaru's mean!" Sai cried. "And when I was trying to help you with whatever we're doing too!"

"_GAH! I get it! Stop crying, Sai! I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, I mean it!"_

"WAH!"

Hikaru covered his ears, wishing once again that this would actually help. Sai was attached to his consciousness, so he didn't actually need any of his five senses to know what Sai was up to. Hikaru never did have the best of luck.

The students walking out from the school stared at Hikaru as they passed him.

* * *

"Excuse me!" Hikaru shouted, flagging down a reliable source of information—an adult—as he ran across to catch up with the teacher.

Hikaru and Sai skidded to a stop in front of the teacher, panting heavily from their long trek across the ridiculously-large Kaio school grounds while shouting.

"Um..." The teacher looked down uncertainly at the strange child in the different school uniform. "Can I help you?"

"I'm...looking...for..." Hikaru painfully grabbed at the stitch at his side and tried to stretch it out. "...Touya."

"Touya Akira?" The teacher asked in surprise.

"Yeah! That's him!" Hikaru exclaimed excitedly, nodding vigorously. "I've asked at least ten other kids about where I can find him, but they didn't even know who he was!"

The Kaio teacher smiled at Hikaru's enthusiasm. They didn't have many kids as energetic as Hikaru at this school, at least not many amongst her students.

"Well, you can't expect every student to know every other student, even if it is Touya Akira you're looking for." She then pointed to a building close to them.

"You should find him in there. That's where the Go Club meets after school."

"Huh?" Hikaru cocked his head to the side, looking at the familiar building. "Touya's in the Go Club?"

The Kaio teacher laughed, continuing on her way.

"Where else would Touya Akira be?"

Hikaru looked up at Sai, who seemed to be clueless as to why Hikaru was even surprised. Deciding not to put himself through the trouble, Hikaru just shrugged and headed towards the building the go tournament had been played in.

* * *

Hikaru peeked into the Kaio Go Club from the bottom corner of the classroom doorway.

"_Whoa."_ Hikaru whisper-thought to Sai. _"The Kaio Go Club is really different from the Haze Go Club."_

Sai surveyed the room from his place atop Hikaru, draping them both with his nobles cloak. (Hikaru had given up on pointing out that Sai didn't need to hide.)

The Kaio Go Club had a multitude of players, a multitude of gobans, and they even used timers. All of the members were sitting quietly amongst the room, playing matches, or quietly discussing plays. There was an intensity and seriousness to this club that made the air extra heavy.

"A quiet place is best suited to the noble study of go." Sai explained to Hikaru.

"_Yeah..."_ Hikaru snorted. _"And to having no fun."_

"Can I help you?"

"GAH!"

Hikaru and Sai tumbled backwards, both falling into a seated position on the ground, Sai's hat askew, and the cloak half-falling off of the both of them.

The Kaio Go Club's instructor, Yun-sensei, remained in his crouched position on the other side of the door where Hikaru had been peeking, calm and composed.

"I remember you from the go tournament we held recently." Yun-sensei informed Hikaru, helping the semi-pro soccer player to his feet. "Not many soccer players show up at junior high go tournaments."

"Is that so?" Hikaru chuckled with some embarrassment before he began to dust down his school uniform.

"What brings you back?" Yun-sensei asked with a friendly smile.

"Oh! Um..." Hikaru rubbed at the back of his head. "I was just looking for Touya. But I can wait here for him until club activities finish."

"You're a friend of Akira-kun's?" Yun-sensei asked in surprise, turning to peer back at the room.

"Yep!" Hikaru replied easily, smiling brightly up at the teacher. "I'm here to ask him for some advice."

"About go?" Yun-sensei asked curiously.

"Nah, not about go." Hikaru waved this off dismissively. "I wouldn't ask Touya if I had a question about go."

If Hikaru ever had a question about go, the Heian-period go tutor attached to him would have already answered it before Hikaru even had the chance to ask.

"Oh." Yun-sensei responded in surprise, blinking down at the soccer player in front of him.

Though he had no idea what Hikaru would want to ask Touya Akira about, Yun was certain that Hikaru was telling the truth from everything about being friends with Touya to being here for advice on...whatever it was kids needed advice from each other about.

Besides, Yun knew that Touya Akira's addition to the go club wasn't just fun and fanfare for Akira or for the club. Even now, when almost all of the other tables were full, Touya Akira was sitting by himself at the table in the corner, reading from a go book or replaying a game by himself.

"Actually, Akira-kun isn't very busy right now." Yun encouraged Hikaru, guiding him through the doorway of the club room. "You can go in and see him now if you want."

"Really? Thanks, sensei!"

Hikaru immediately began scanning the room, looking for the familiar bob-cut hairstyle.

"Hey! Touya!" Hikaru exclaimed, waving.

Everyone's heads immediately turned to him in surprise, especially one particular person sitting by himself in the corner.

Touya Akira's eyes widened as he dropped his book onto the table in shock. Shindo Hikaru only waved more, seeing as he now had Touya's attention, from his spot in the doorway of the Kaio Go Club classroom.

...

**Author's Notes:**

The ancient-noble-cloak-thing isn't made up. And it pretty much just looks like a silk cape, that ties at the neck, and can be pulled over the head and cover the face. I know these kind of facts because I have watched many Asian historical-period dramas.


	18. Haze Go Club III

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 18: Haze Go Club III._

...

"Shh!"

Immediately clapping hand over mouth, Hikaru gestured apologies to everyone in the room before bowing his head and slipped towards the corner table on the far side of the classroom.

Touya Akira watched in continued shock as the soccer player approached him.

Hikaru paused only briefly in front of the table before he picked up an empty chair. He placed this chair semi-quietly at the front of the table, perpendicular to where Touya was sitting. Then he deftly leaned over, pulling out the chair across from Touya, and left that as is.

But Touya Akira was too acutely aware of just how many people were staring at them to notice whatever Hikaru was doing. And—with Hikaru completely unaware—Akira pinched himself in the arm.

He winced, so this must really be happening.

"It took me forever to find you, Touya." Hikaru whispered excitedly to Akira. "I waited for you outside the school gates, but you didn't come out, so I had to run all around this giant school before I found you, haha."

Akira didn't really understand what was so funny, but since Hikaru was trying so hard to not laugh too loudly, he smiled.

"This school is rather big." Akira conceded quietly, before he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Though I am still surprised to see you here, Shindo-sa—Shindo."

Hikaru just grinned dumbly.

"I don't think he means that as a compliment, Hikaru." Sai spoke up from his seat across from Touya.

"_Oh, what do you know?"_ Hikaru waved him off.

Sai just sighed. Despite all of his lecturing, Hikaru was still rather rude.

"Hikaru." Sai huffed. "Remember what you came here for."

"Oh!" exclaimed Hikaru.

"Shh!"

Hikaru gestured apologetically towards the rest of the room again.

Only Akira noticed when the neighbors of the student who had shushed Hikaru violently protested against the shushing. That shusher student glared in annoyance at his classmates.

"Alright, alright." Yun-sensei took control of the situation. "Focus on your go, everyone. If you're not concentrating on the game you're playing, you're inviting your opponent to take the victory."

"That's right." Sai nodded in agreement. "Hikaru, you should do well to remember that as well."

"_Since when have I never concentrated on a game?"_ Hikaru was the one to huff this time. _"You're too much of a monster to make that rookie mistake."_

Sai was left to ponder this response. He was pretty sure it was a compliment, but he didn't really like being compared to a monster. Also, why was Hikaru bringing up that soccer _ruu-kii_ thing?

Akira was just relieved that everyone seemed to be following Sensei's orders and returning their attention to their games. He would need all of his attention and focus to navigate the coming conversation with his friend.

"Right. Touya," Hikaru leaned in and whispered to Akira conspiratorially again. "I'm not here for fun. I'm here on business."

"Business?"

Akira had thought...just for a moment...that he had the kind of friend to wait for him at the school gates, and look for him around the school, and even whisper conspiratorially with in the back of the classroom, like he had seen so many times before amongst his classmates.

"So, you have questions about go?" Akira asked, valiantly hiding his crushing disappointment.

He would answer the question, politely and concisely. It was how he always handled situations like this. And then he could go back to his quiet life, just like before.

"What?" Hikaru looked at Akira dumbly.

Akira sat silently, blank with confusion.

Hikaru stared straight back at him patiently.

"You..." Akira tilted his head uncertainly. "...don't?"

"About go?" Hikaru asked, looking completely dumbfounded by this notion. "Why would I ask you about go?"

"I... I, um... It's just that..." Akira bit his lip, very much aware that he was blushing.

However, he was elated to know that Hikaru hadn't come here to take advantage of him either.

"You're not a go tutor. And you didn't offer to teach me." Hikaru rambled on, scratching at his head in confusion. "Besides, we're the same age. It'd be weird to call you Sensei."

"I'm sorry, I just assumed since that's all anyone ever asks me about." Akira quickly explained, hoping that he hadn't sounded arrogant and narcissistic at presuming such.

"Oh." Hikaru replied flatly, before remembering, "Oh yeah! You're supposed to be good enough to go pro or something, right? That's what Kaga said. Hey! Why are you in the go club then? I'm not allowed to play in the soccer club at school and I'm only semi-pro."

"Oh. That's...um...because..." Akira nervously straightened his already-immaculate uniform, avoiding Hikaru's direct gaze.

"You seemed like you were having so much fun with the go club at your school. I just thought it would be nice to...have fun too."

Hikaru grinned. "That sounds like a good reason. The go club is fun!"

Akira smiled.

Hikaru then nudged Akira with his elbow.

"But you can still take the pro exam later right?" Hikaru whispered in question.

"I'm only postponing taking the pro exam." Akira replied. "I don't mind taking it later."

"You can do that?" Hikaru asked in amazement.

"Yes." Akira nodded. "You're permitted to take the professional examination until the age of thirty."

"Thirty!" Hikaru whisper-exclaimed. "You'll be an old man by then!"

Akira didn't think that thirty was that old. Amongst those in the professional go world, Akira wouldn't even know how to classify Kuwabara Honinbo then.

"Then I won't worry about you, Touya. You can do whatever you like. You can't rush to become a pro if you're not ready for it, that's for sure. And that's coming from a semi-pro."

Hikaru gave Akira a very cheerful thumbs up.

Akira smiled at him.

"So what business do you have if not for go, Shindo?" Akira asked politely.

At this Hikaru remembered why he was here in the first place.

"I need some advice." Hikaru told Akira, suddenly very serious.

"Oh, alright." Akira blinked at Hikaru. "I'm not confident that I'll have advice to give, but I will try my best."

"Of course you're the best person to ask, Touya." Hikaru replied immediately, not a doubt in his declaration. "That's why I'm asking you. Besides, you're our age and you're crazy about go, right?"

If this conversation wasn't about go, then Akira did not see how those two attributes would have anything to do with...well, anything.

"So tell me, Touya," Hikaru leaned forward, his arm on the table, a determined glint in his eye.

Akira inched forwards in his seat, almost excited, and wondering just what could make the usually happy-go-lucky soccer player so serious.

"Where do kid go players hang out?"

At a loss for words, Akira just stared at Hikaru.

Rather than take this for not having an answer, Hikaru waited patiently for Akira to finish thinking.

"I don't know." Akira finally answered.

Hikaru nearly face-planted into the table.

"What do you mean, Touya? How could you not know?" Hikaru sighed with ghostly disappointment, his mood darkening so much that his entire expression was cast into shadow. And his head rolled from side to side listlessly; it was quite frightening.

"I'm really sorry." Akira answered Hikaru in alarm. "But I don't have any friends our age who also play go."

At this, Hikaru stopped rolling his head and looked up. And thankfully, the ghost shadows had disappeared from his expression.

"Oh." Hikaru stated simply.

"I just assumed since you play go and we met at the Children's Go Tournament that you would have lots of go friends." Hikaru rambled almost to himself, already trying to think of someone else he could ask (or something else he could do) to get the answer he needed.

Sai sharply jabbed Hikaru in the ribs, the only one who saw that dense-Hikaru was thoughtlessly hurting Akira's feelings and making him feel bad.

"Ow!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Shh!"

"Alright! Geez!" Hikaru shouted.

Hikaru leapt to his feet, waving his fist in the air.

Akira immediately got to his feet and bowed apologetically to the rest of the club on Hikaru's behalf.

"Sorry!" Hikaru whisper-shouted to everyone else in the room.

He took his seat again.

"Well, I also play go and I also met you at the Children's Go Tournament, I guess." Hikaru sighed. "And I don't know anyone else either."

"But you have all of your friends in your go club." Akira pointed out.

"Well, duh! So do you!" Hikaru gestured to the rest of the room behind him.

Akira kept his mouth shut at this. He wouldn't consider anyone in the go club to be anything other than a fellow go club member. And even then, he didn't really feel as if he were considered a 'real' member by the rest of the club anyway.

But Hikaru didn't need to know that. And because he didn't want Hikaru to think otherwise, he was aware that he would be doing a cowardly thing.

"I suppose." Akira told Hikaru noncommittally, unable to meet Hikaru's eye as he said this.

But Hikaru wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was lost in his own thoughts and trying to think of something else he could do to solve his problems.

"I need to recruit another member to the go club." Hikaru told Akira, crossing his arms across his chest as he hummed in thought. "I thought that if I went somewhere where a lot of kids who liked go went, maybe I would spot another kid from Haze."

"That..." Akira was actually puzzled by the faith Hikaru was putting in to such an unlikely result. "...would be lucky?"

"Yeah! It would have been so lucky!" Hikaru buried his face into his arms, and collapsed atop the table in his disappointment.

Akira just watched, unsure of what to do.

"Well, whatever." Hikaru shook off his disappointment quickly, sitting up and turning to Touya cheerfully. "I guess I'll figure that out tomorrow. Today I'm hanging out with you!"

And despite all of the uncertainty and anxiety he had been put through since Hikaru had showed up, Akira smiled at that.

"I'm free after club activities." Akira volunteered courageously.

"Cool!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Let's go do something fun together."

"What do you suggest?" Akira asked. He had never gone out for fun with a friend before. Since Hikaru was the expert in this situation, Akira decided to just follow Hikaru's lead.

Hikaru couldn't believe his luck. Akira was letting him to pick what they would be doing.

"Ramen!" Hikaru shouted.

"Shh!"

Across the room, the shusher's neighbor hit him upside the head.

...

**Author's Notes:**

Wasn't that kid who kept shushing Hikaru so lame? I'm glad his neighbor hit him in the back of the head.


	19. Haze Go Club IV

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 19: Haze Go Club IV._

...

"Sorry I got us kicked out of your go club, Touya." Hikaru sincerely apologized as the two boys sat at Hikaru's favorite ramen stand.

"That's alright, Shindo." Akira replied easily, feeling more than forgiving. After the third interruption for Hikaru to quiet down, Yun-sensei had taken Akira aside and gently suggested that he take Hikaru and leave for the day. But surprisingly, Akira wasn't that upset at being asked to leave club activities early.

"I'm enjoying the ramen." Akira concluded, smiling.

"Ramen is very good." Hikaru stated happily, already forgetting that he had felt bad enough to apologize. "Ramen is the best! It's tasty and flavorful and gives you plenty of energy..."

Akira allowed Hikaru to babble on and on about ramen after that, quietly enjoying his own bowl. Though it was rather manipulative of him, Akira figured that Hikaru would forget about whatever he was talking about if Akira just provided him the opportunity to talk about his favorite food. And if that hadn't worked, Akira could have just asked Hikaru what he liked about soccer.

"Ahh! That was good ramen. Thanks for the great ramen, mister!" Hikaru shouted over the counter to the chef standing nearby.

"I'm always glad to see you enjoy my food, Hikaru!" The chef replied with a laugh. "You and your friend come back soon!"

Akira bowed politely at the offer after he had slid out of his seat. Hikaru just leapt down from the high bar stool. He retrieved both of their bags and handed Akira's his while Akira was busy bowing.

"Sure, mister!" Hikaru grinned. "Touya and I will become ramen regulars!"

The ramen chef's good-natured laugh poured out from behind them as Hikaru and Akira exited the small stand. Hikaru waved goodbye to the chef and, most importantly, to the ramen as they left.

"Hmm... What should we do now?" Hikaru pondered as he and Touya stopped outside.

"We're doing more than just having ramen?" Akira asked excitedly. He had expected the 'fun' to end with their meal and had savored the experience accordingly. But he felt extremely happy to hear that the day wouldn't be over just yet.

"Of course we are. It's still daylight." Hikaru absently replied as he glanced up at the sky.

Akira wondered if he should make a suggestion for a new activity. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what would be an appropriate suggestion for an activity to do with one's friends. But though he lacked experience, Akira did not wish to burden Hikaru with the responsibility of always having to choose their activities. He would work harder to become a better friend.

"Delivery!" The ramen chef's voice carried out towards Hikaru and Touya, who had still been standing close by the ramen stand.

"Hai!" The delivery boy replied. "To the go club next door, right?"

Akira could not see Sai, but the both of them overheard this information with the same enthusiasm.

"Hikaru, did you hear that?" Sai asked, barely able to hold in his excitement.

"_Yeah? So?"_ Hikaru replied dismissively. _"I'm with Touya right now. I don't want to take him to some boring go club."_

Sai pouted, but this would not stand. Sai inhaled as much as he was able to hold and made sure to get as close to Hikaru's ear as he could.

"I WANT TO GO!"

Hikaru covered his ears, once again cursing that he was the only one who could hear Sai. Sai had recently realized that not being heard by others meant he could shout as loud as he wanted at Hikaru anytime he wanted. This realization of Sai's had not been to Hikaru's benefit.

"...go club next door."

Hikaru looked up at Touya, suddenly aware that Akira had been talking to him while Hikaru had been wishing he were deaf (and once again realizing that this wouldn't do anything against Sai anyway).

"Huh?" Hikaru stared at Akira.

Akira coughed lightly, blushing with embarrassment as he repeated himself.

"Perhaps we should go to the go club next door."

"You want to go to the go club, Touya?" Hikaru asked.

Though Akira was feeling more and more certain that he had suggested something strange, he nodded. He did want to go there, after all. And he didn't have any other suggestions to make.

"Okay! Let's go!"

And just like that, without even looking behind him, Hikaru zoomed right behind the delivery boy and followed him to the nearby go club.

Akira had to run to catch up.

* * *

The go parlor was located down a small lane of tiny shops off the main road. And it was underground, requiring its patrons to go down a long cement staircase leading to an out-of-the-way corridor. The one tiny sign above the barely-noticeable door was the only thing advising others of the existence of the go club at all.

Not being used to venturing into such places, Akira was nervous and just a bit anxious in the unfamiliar environment. He followed closely behind Hikaru, at one point grabbing onto Hikaru's backpack just to make sure they wouldn't get separated somehow.

Hikaru didn't mind. In fact, the blockhead was too busy following behind the quick-moving delivery boy and trying to look at everything they passed on the way down to even notice.

Following the delivery boy, Hikaru walked inside the place he assumed was the go club (he didn't bother to read signs). He saw a simple room with a few rows of tables, neatly-lined gobans, and a small front counter. There were barely any customers in sight.

"_Good."_ Hikaru thought.

"What's good, Hikaru?" Sai asked curiously. "Do you mean go clubs are good? Are you willing to come more often now that you've seen one?"

"_It's good cuz this place looks cheap."_ Hikaru grinned.

Sai slumped inwards from disappointment.

Meanwhile, Hikaru confidently walked towards the counter with the old man behind it. Akira trailed behind him, watching the delivery boy leave through the front entrance.

"Are you two here to play?" The elderly gentleman behind the counter asked, noticing Hikaru and Akira. "Children are ¥500."

"_¥500! That's not cheap!" _Hikaru vented. _ "And you wanted me to come to more of these places, Sai!"_

"_Hi-ka-ru!_" Sai whined pitifully, grabbing onto Hikaru as he pleaded. "Just pay for the admission. Please!"

"_No way!" _Hikaru set his foot down on the matter._ "We have a goban at home, Sai! I'm not going to pay for something we can do for free."_

Still, Touya had wanted to come to this place. Hikaru decided that he was going to have to employ his best technique then.

"My parents don't give me much allowance, ojisan. I can't pay that much money. But I don't have to play. I can just watch, can't I, ojisan?" Hikaru explained, putting on his best puppy dog eyes. This always worked against his grandpa.

Akira watched all of this with abject fascination. He was aware that he should be thinking that Hikaru's behavior was shameless. After all, Hikaru hadn't had any objection to paying whatever the price for ramen. But on the other hand, Akira had never even encountered a situation like this before in real life and just really wanted to know how this tactic would be received.

The elderly man behind the counter just chuckled at Hikaru's act.

"Alright, alright." He said. "If you're not going to play, then you don't have to pay the admission fee."

"Yay!" Hikaru cheered.

Akira dutifully paid the full price of admission. He also made a mental note to ask if Hikaru could come in for free if Akira ever gathered up the courage to invite Hikaru to his father's go parlor.

Meanwhile, Hikaru ran over to one of the tables and dumped his bag to the floor. As Akira took the seat across from Hikaru, Hikaru also pulled out the empty chair beside him for Sai to sit.

"Hey, this place isn't bad." Hikaru commented cheerily after he and Akira had settled at one of the tables with their complimentary tea. "At least the ojisan behind the counter is nice."

Akira nodded and sipped from his cup. Now that the initial excitement was over, he wondered what he and Hikaru would even do here if Hikaru couldn't play. But there was no way Akira would be able to voice such thoughts aloud.

Instead, both Akira and Sai just stared down at the untouched goban between them.

"Hey, look over there!" Hikaru suddenly whispered to Akira.

Hikaru directed Akira (and Sai's) attention towards the table next to them. Akira didn't see what about this game had attracted Hikaru's attention. It wasn't particularly exciting. From what Akira could see, the game seemed to be consistently in white's favor.

"That kid..." Hikaru pointed out, nodding his head towards one of the players.

Startled, Akira realized that Hikaru hadn't been pointing out the game, but the players. A middle-aged man was playing black and the one playing white was a boy about their age with red hair and cat-like eyes.

Akira thought he knew what had attracted Hikaru to this game now. Other than he and Hikaru, the unknown boy was the only other child here.

Unsure of what to say, but aware that Hikaru was waiting for him to say something, Akira decided to play this cautiously.

"He plays well for our age." Akira observed, sounding casual in his reply.

Sai nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Yes, yes. He isn't at the level of the Kaio club members, but this child is stronger than Tsutsui-san." Sai remarked, studying the game closely.

"That's not why I'm pointing him out!" Hikaru hissed at both Akira and Sai.

Both Akira and Sai blinked incomprehensibly at Hikaru.

"Didn't you hear them? That kid and that guy placed a bet on their game! ¥10,000!"

Touya's face clouded with thunderous rage. He immediately narrowed his gaze dangerously upon the board, his fists tightly clenched upon the tabletop.

...

**Author's Notes:**

The Return of Cheapskate Hikaru! (I love this Hikaru so much.)


	20. Haze Go Club V

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 20: Haze Go Club V._

...

A chair scraped sharply across the floor before tumbling down onto the cheap tile. Another aluminum folding chair was abruptly pushed back immediately following, the table between them jostling as someone's hip painfully collided against the hard plastic edge. The goban and go stones shook upon the table but remained upon the table's surface as the commotion unfolded above them.

"WAH! Touya!"

"Unhand me, Shindo!"

"Not if you're gonna go beat up a guy!"

"They're not just disrespecting go, they're sullying it!" Akira shouted, eyes snapping towards Hikaru so fast that Hikaru nearly lost his grip on Touya's arm just from the shock of seeing the expression there.

Akira's eyes were hardened and fierce, sharp with the heat of indignation and anger. They were the eyes of a tiger enraged enough to attack.

However, though Hikaru visibly flinched at the eyes Touya was showing him, he kept his vice-like grip on the other boy's elbow. Even if Hikaru didn't understand why betting money on a game would cause Touya to react this way, he would bodily hold him in place. Hikaru might be standing on the other side—a table in between them—but he was still physically stronger than Touya.

"Hikaru!" Sai interrupted sharply from beside Hikaru.

"They're not just betting on a game," Sai accused, pointing his closed fan directly towards the board. "They're cheating in this game. Both of them."

Hikaru's eyes immediately flickered over the board. Now that Sai had mentioned it, some of the stones didn't seem right. He had been watching this game even before Sai and Touya, had had more time to notice the shapes the stones were making and predict the flow of the game.

But he didn't remember the board looking quite like that. It was as if he had been watching a mass of ants, had looked away for only a second, and turned back to find that some of the ants had...moved.

"Little kids who don't understand should sit down and stay quiet." The older, middle-aged man playing black grinned in Hikaru's and Akira's direction. "I'm trying to teach a valuable lesson."

"_Che,_" The younger player scoffed at him. "You're just throwing it in my face."

"I wouldn't be doing this right if I wasn't." The older man laughed boisterously, throwing his head back in amusement. It was as if Hikaru and Akira's presence there, and their knowing what was happening, didn't matter to him at all.

This time, even Hikaru was looking closely enough to see it. Once his head was thrown back, the boy playing white slipped an extra stone into his captures.

Hikaru immediately abandoned paying attention to the crooked game and instead turned to focus on Sai. However, Sai wasn't affected by these events in the way Hikaru thought he would be. Even though this situation should bring back all of those bad memories of his past, the very memories which had led to his death...

Sai just looked sad.

And Hikaru didn't just know this because they shared that bond with one another that allowed them to feel the other's feelings. This time, Hikaru understood because he could see it.

Sai was looking down only at the boy who was cheating. And Hikaru understood the profound sorrow in Sai's expression then. Even Sai, a ghost no one else could see or hear or touch or communicate with in any way, someone who had lived a thousand years ago that nobody other than Hikaru would ever even know he existed, pitied the boy before him for not knowing what he was losing in living this way.

"How could you?"

Akira looked back at Hikaru in shock, shock enough to forget his own violent reaction to this game.

Hikaru kept his grip on Akira's elbow, but his hold slackened as he stared down at the goban in play. He wasn't looking at the players, neither the older man nor the boy their age. But Hikaru's question to them hung in the air, haunting everyone in the room.

It was completely silent for a moment. The old man behind the counter turned away. Everyone else in the go club did as well. Even if they weren't playing that game, the guilt in just knowing about it wasn't lessened. They had allowed the cheating to happen without consequence, had participated in the corruption of a child in this way.

"Why shouldn't I?"

The other boy stared up at them, not angry, not ashamed, no emotion whatsoever. His pose in his chair was slack and casual, his attention still half on the game he had been playing.

Akira focused on the white stone in this boy's hand, white hot rage flooding his entire being at such an insolent question.

But Mitani Yuki only smirked at Akira's indignation, seeing the other boy's clenched fists as amusing.

"It's just a game." Mitani told them, idly twirling the stone across his fluid, capable fingers.

"It doesn't mean anything to you, or to him," Mitani nodded his head towards Hikaru. "Or to anyone else watching, not even really to me and him."

He glanced over at his opponent, who was now uncharacteristically just observing this entire conversation in complete silence.

Dismissing this, Mitani turned his gaze back to the two kids his age standing in front of him.

"Me and him play this game together, and we know what we're getting into. And if the two of us playing know, then what does it matter to anyone else?" He asked the two interrupting his game.

"Why are you doing this?" Akira demanded. He wasn't just about to let this go, not when the integrity of go was being put into question.

"Why not?" Mitani replied immediately. "It's just a game played for fun. And it's more fun for me and him if we bet on the game and cheat while playing."

Hikaru couldn't believe the words coming out of this kid's mouth. He bristled at the thought of even understanding the twisted logic of what this kid was saying.

Games were fun. Hikaru had always believed that everyone played games because they were fun. But he had never bet on a game before. Sure, he may have said big words and may have suggested an innocent bet like more games of soccer or something...but never money! Never ever money on anything ever!

Hikaru couldn't even comprehend cheating (or losing money) as being fun at all. But, in a way, what this kid was saying was also right. They weren't hurting anyone, and both of them knew what was going on.

As confusing and as wrong as it felt, Hikaru didn't think he had anything to say against this kid's reasons.

Still, Hikaru opened his mouth to say something because he just had to dispute what this other kid was saying. Despite his newfound doubt, he was still sure that cheating was wrong, even if only because it had been one of the reasons for Sai killing himself. But his conviction was lost while he was doing it, and all he managed to do was close his mouth in silence.

However, Touya Akira hadn't been moved at all by Mitani Yuki's words.

"So that's how you want to always live your life?"

Akira's fists were still tightly clenched at his sides, his fingernails digging painfully into his palm. But he didn't care about that right now. Right now, _this _was even more important than him. _This _was even more important than go.

"You don't have to think of go like I do," Akira told Mitani. "Because this isn't about go at all. You're just telling me that you're disappointing yourself."

"I'm not—" shouted Mitani.

"You were." Akira interrupted him immediately. "Betting on and cheating your go like this doesn't make go more fun. It just shows me that you've given up on yourself."

At this point, Akira wrenched his arm free from Hikaru. And Hikaru didn't even make a move to restrain Touya again. Despite the harsh words Touya was saying to this kid, he didn't have to worry about Touya beating this kid up the old-fashioned way.

"Whatever made you cheat in the first place—desperation, anger, even spur of the moment whim—it was the first instance in which you disappointed yourself. You didn't believe in your ability to get stronger or to improve honestly. You stopped trying, and you gave up."

"And actually, what you're doing isn't fun at all. But you already know that, don't you. It's just that it's easier this way. It's become easier for you to give up than to make an effort. And you continue to do it because you already think lowly of yourself."

Touya looked straight into Mitani's hard gaze then, not in anger, but in warning this time.

"If you continue on this path, that's how you'll always live your life."

"_WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?_" Mitani shouted, slamming his fist into the table.

The stones upon the goban rattled and scattered, disrupting the game and rendering it unplayable. But no one really cared then. All anyone cared about then was that Mitani looked angry enough to kill.

"You don't know anything!" Mitani shouted at Touya. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know anything about my life. You're just some stupid kid who thinks he knows everything, barging in here when you don't belong, talking about things you don't even understand!"

Akira didn't say anything at all in response to this. He just looked at Mitani for a long time, as if he were trying to figure something out, as if Mitani were a tricky pattern of stones his opponent had laid down.

"Let's make a bet."

"_What?!_" Hikaru exclaimed, looking at Akira like he had gone insane.

"We'll play a game." Akira announced, looking straight at Mitani. "You can cheat as much as you want. And if you feel good about yourself after our game, then I'll admit that I was wrong about you."

Mitani eyed Touya carefully then, looking seriously angry but also seriously surprised by Touya's suggestion.

"That's not a real bet." Mitani pointed out shrewdly.

Akira calmly picked up his fallen chair and set it back upright, not giving any hint to his thoughts or emotions.

"Then we'll bet ¥10,000 like your last game." Touya declared, taking his seat in front of the goban.

It took a moment, but Mitani Yuki accepted the challenge.

...

**Author's Notes:**

I'm going to attempt writing my first real go game next chapter. The setup to it took longer than I thought it would, but I wanted to make the first go game I write super exciting!


	21. Haze Go Club VI

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 21: Haze Go Club VI._

...

"¥10,000, Touya?!" Hikaru whispered urgently as he rounded the table at Akira's side. "Are you nuts?! Do you even have that much money?"

Akira frowned slightly, but his gaze remained unwavered.

"You don't, do you?!" Hikaru whisper-shouted. "There's no way you have that much pocket money!"

"I don't need that much." replied Akira. "I'm not going to lose."

Hikaru's eyes nearly boggled out of his skull. He looked from his unflinching friend back to his opponent, the red-headed kid having just moved to take the seat across from Touya.

Hikaru gripped at his hair, ready to tear it out by the handfuls.

"_WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!"_ Hikaru thought-screamed. The pressure of the situation was making all of his ideas jumble and fall over one another like a clumsy, inept soccer team. His frantic brain just could not work out an escape strategy.

"Onegai-shimasu."

"_WHAT?! THEY'VE NIGIRI-ED ALREADY?!"_

"Hikaru." Sai called out sharply to his panicking disciple.

Startled by the sternness in Sai's voice, Hikaru immediately silenced and looked towards his tutor.

"This is a challenge which Touya has issued himself. If you are his friend, then you may only watch and support him."

"_But—_"

"No, Hikaru." Sai shook his head. "You must only watch this game. There is nothing more."

Looking between Touya and Mitani again, Hikaru knew that Sai was right. There was nothing standing in the way of Touya's fierce determination and Mitani's indignant anger. Even if Hikaru were to throw Touya over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and run out of there with the immediacy of a thief, Touya would only leave Hikaru behind to come back here.

So obediently, Hikaru did as Sai had instructed him and quietly watched the game.

Touya was playing white, so Mitani had the first move, an upper right hand sumi. Mitani's playing was aggressive from the beginning, a hard-and-fast attack-oriented style aimed at keeping the pace of the game in his favor while also keeping his opponent off-balance. But despite Mitani's aims, Touya had answered his style by concentrating on building a steady and solid defense.

As the stones began to spread across the board, Hikaru was sitting on pins and needles.

He constantly scanned the top of the goban, while also constantly peeking at the two players from the corners of his eyes.

Wrecking Hikaru's nerves the worst was the fact that Mitani had yet to even attempt to cheat. And Touya had even said that Mitani could cheat all he wanted, so Hikaru was just waiting for it to happen. But he had no idea how the game would change once the cheating began. It might disrupt any number of Touya's defenses, from the traps he had set up to the territorial takeover strategies he would eventually have to use.

Mitani winced.

Touya had taken one of Mitani's stones. It was just one, and not significant enough to upset Mitani's play. And yet, right after Touya had captured it, Mitani's next move was to subtly slide one of Touya's stones down right before he placed his black stone there in its place. With that move, Mitani had begun to open up an advantage for him in the lower left corner.

Hikaru blinked, hoping that that hadn't happened while simultaneously relieved that it had. Akira silently stared at the point on the board. And Mitani watched Touya, daring Touya to say something about it.

But rather than say anything at all, Touya only continued the game and placed his next stone onto the board.

Within a couple of more moves, another wince as Touya captured another one of Mitani's stones.

"_What is Touya doing?"_ Hikaru asked as he mindlessly fiddled with his tea cup. _"I thought Touya's steady & defend strategy was working. But now he's just capturing insignificant stones! Those last two stone were worthless!"_

"Watch and learn, Hikaru." Sai calmly instructed. "Besides myself, you've only ever played against the go club, beginners who haven't developed a playing style yet. Touya's opponent favors a constant attack style. But it seems that Touya has found the weakness in his opponent."

"_Huh?"_ Hikaru turned briefly to look at Sai. _"What weakness? It's still early in the game."_

"Tell me, Hikaru," Sai smiled at Hikaru before he gestured to the board. "If Touya is implementing a new strategy against his opponent, why is that?"

"_Err..."_ Hikaru tried studying the board as Sai had asked, looking for whatever strategy Touya could be using, considering the point in the game and the pattern of the stones on the board.

He was looking, but he wasn't finding one.

"_Touya's just being stubborn?"_

Sai shook his head, grinning at the foolishness of his student despite himself.

"_But Touya doesn't look like he's doing anything!"_ Hikaru gave up on it. _"His moves now don't make any sense. He's just going around and capturing random stones! That's all he's doing actually. It's like he forgot about all the strategic defenses he spent the whole beginning game setting up!"_

"I encourage you to think about this carefully, Hikaru. There is much to learn from this game. And I assure you that what Touya is doing now is a strategic attack on his opponent."

Hikaru frowned, severely doubting that. But he stayed quiet and watched anyway.

As the game progressed, Mitani's cheating escalated. While Touya was spending his time capturing random stones of no important significance, only putting in the minimal effort to defend his position on the board, Mitani was growing bolder and bolder in his plays.

Mitani slid stones on the board, added stones to his captures, plain just took Touya's stones off the board without even adding it to his captures! Hikaru felt as if the game was crumbling before his eyes. In the beginning, Mitani's constant attack style might have been answered by Touya in a logical manner, but now it seemed like Touya just wanted to make Mitani angry.

And it wasn't even as if Mitani cared to hide his cheating anymore. Hikaru was horrified by how openly Mitani was messing with the game. And Touya was just letting him do it!

But Touya could afford to just let Mitani do whatever he wanted. By mid-game, it was already clear that even with uneven stones, Touya was going to overtake Mitani.

"_I think I get it now."_

Sai looked curiously towards Hikaru, but wasn't surprised that Hikaru had figured out the answer to the puzzle he had given him.

"_Touya wasn't attacking the stones on the board."_

Hikaru glanced between the two opponents.

"_He was attacking that kid instead."_

Sai nodded.

"Touya's opponent would fare well against a casual or amateur player." Sai explained, glancing towards Mitani. "But against an experienced and serious player like Touya, he needs to learn how to retreat and defend just as well as he attacks."

"_But since he's never needed to before, he got frustrated and just kept on attacking."_

"Once he lost sight of the board, Touya took the advantage. He only saw what Touya was taking from him and reacted to that. It is a tendency in players who have been self-taught."

Hikaru nodded thoughtfully, studying the board from a new perspective after Sai's explanation. He could see it so clearly now that he knew what he was looking for. He could see all of the chinks and cracks in Mitani's armor.

"In a mental game such as go," Sai advised, much more seriously than he was in his usual lectures to Hikaru. "Sometimes it's more effective to attack the player's mind rather than their plays on the board. But that is a decision that you will have to weigh carefully before deciding whether or not you will use it."

"_Why?"_ Hikaru asked Sai in surprise. _"Wouldn't I want to do whatever I can do to win? I mean, obviously you can't cheat. But it's not as if what Touya's doing is against the rules."_

"It will depend on your reasons for doing it, and whether or not you care about _how_ you won this game."

Hikaru decided not to ask anything after that. Instead he wondered silently to himself if he did care about how he won a game. The issue had just never come up for him before.

At this thought, Hikaru turned to glare bitterly in Sai's direction.

"You're a better player than I thought you would be." Touya suddenly started making conversation. "But it's obvious you've never studied go before."

"What's it to you?" snapped Mitani, glaring angrily at Touya to make his next move.

"You'll have the chance to learn if you join your school's go club." Touya casually continued the conversation. "Shindo can inform you of the meetings. You go to Haze, right? I noticed your uniform."

Distracted from the game, Hikaru was only half paying attention as Touya once again captured another useless stone from Mitani.

And that was why Hikaru's heart nearly flew out as Mitani savagely swung his arm over the board, scattering the go stones and abruptly ending the game. Even Touya was staring at this display in complete and utter shock, unable to even comprehend the situation.

With one last angry, rage-filled glare at Touya, Mitani grabbed his bag and jacket, and fled the room.

Afterwards, Hikaru looked around at the shocked occupants of the go club, hitting his chest in an effort to get his heart rate to go down.

"Man, Touya," Hikaru turned to Akira. "I'm glad I didn't have to play against you."

...

**Author's Notes:**

I actually modeled this game on Mitani's game against the Kaio Go Club president/team captain. I won't be using it in the fanfiction, so whatever.


	22. Super Secret Training Regimen SPECIAL!

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 22: Shindo Hikaru's Super Secret Training Regimen SPECIAL!_

...

"Man! I wish I were a regular already!" Shinji, one of Hikaru's teammates, complained loudly as all of the boys on the reserves scrambled around the field setting up for today.

Kaito just grunted, too preoccupied with carrying a large net full of dozens of soccer balls slung over his shoulder. The three of them had been assigned to making sure all of the soccer balls had perfect air pressure. Shinji was lugging the other net.

"It's not that bad." Hikaru spoke up. "It doesn't take that long to set up the field if there's so many of us."

Both Kaito and Shinji glared at him. Hikaru's dumb cheerfulness was why he was carrying the air pump right now. The compact rectangular machine was easily heavier than a bunch of soccer balls.

The reserve players set up the field before games. Each team separately set up their own field for practice though, and both pitched in during weekend practices, so the regulars never got out of field setup. But on game days, setting up the field took double the effort. And the fact that these were off-season invitational games meant that there wasn't the seriousness of an official matchup, but there still was the great amount of work they had to do in order to intimidate/impress/welcome the other teams.

"You're too cheerful, Shindo." Shinji sighed as the three finally found an outlet along the west side of the stadium.

They happily started on their task. Otherwise, Coach would yell at them for slacking off.

"How can someone be too cheerful?" Hikaru scrunched his face at the thought, looking up at the two older players.

"Most guys complain about setup, but you _like_ it." Shinji replied obviously.

Kaito dismissed the first few balls as adequate, rolling them aside for Shinji to organize. He handed Hikaru the first flat, never needing to check that the younger boy had already plugged in the pump. Hikaru was already waiting for the handoff.

"Why wouldn't I? I never got to help set up the field on my school team." Hikaru shrugged.

He turned on the machine, the loud rumbling and occasional hiss of air escaping the needle drowning out whatever conversation they were having.

Kaito and Shinji were quickly organizing the two nets worth of equipment between them, exchanging a look at the typical Shindo response.

"It's kinda cool to know how much work has to be done before we can play." Hikaru added, testing his work by bouncing the ball on his knees.

Shinji rolled his eyes, taking Hikaru's spot at the pump with the next ball.

After confirming with Kaito, Hikaru threw the newly-refilled ball into the net and picked up organizing where Shinji had left off.

"I'm pretty sure that setting up the field together is supposed to promote teamwork." Kaito offered as he took his turn with a flat ball.

Shinji wasn't really listening. He was bouncing his ball against the wall to test it.

"Really?" Hikaru exclaimed, nearly dropping everything he was holding in his hands. His eyes lit up with amazement at the concept. It was genius!

Both Shinji and Kaito turned to one another, and rolled their eyes.

"That's why Coach is so hard on us about how we do everything." Shinji graciously informed Hikaru. "Didn't you ever wonder why he gets so mad if we've been slacking off?"

"But that's—" Hikaru squinted in concentration as he tried to come up with a good way to explain his thoughts.

"That's just Coach." Hikaru waved dismissively, as if it were the most natural explanation for anything in the world.

Both Kaito and Shinji sighed.

"You're such a strange guy, Shindo." Shinji kicked the ball to Hikaru.

Hikaru caught it properly with his leg, kneeing it upwards, and catching it in his hands. He chucked it into the net with all of the other refilled balls.

"Don't you ever get tired of setting up for a game you're not even playing, Shindo?" Kaito asked curiously as Hikaru sat down with the next flat.

Hikaru had to take a moment to think on this, using the air pump as an excuse for not responding right away.

Sai knew that Hikaru didn't mind the extra work. In fact, the child hadn't even considered that he could complain. To Hikaru, it made sense for the players not playing that day to be put to use another way. But now that he had been confronted with a differing opinion, Hikaru was also taking his present teammates' feelings into consideration.

Sai stayed quiet along the side of the wall, right beside the loud metal block that fed something into those _saa-kaa_ balls. Usually, he wouldn't hesitate to offer Hikaru advice. But today, he wanted to observe what Hikaru would come up with without his counsel.

"Nah." Hikaru answered them, throwing the newly-refilled ball against the wall and catching it like a goalie just like how Kaito taught him. "If it helps the team, I don't mind."

Kaito and Shinji looked up at Hikaru in surprise, completely forgetting their individual tasks for a second.

But Hikaru turned around and just grinned at them like normal, indicating that Hikaru's response was Hikaru just being Hikaru, not any critique on them or some kind of view with deep meaning. Shrugging, both of the other boys returned to their task at hand.

"If you don't want to do this stuff as much, Shinji, then you should just become a regular!" laughed Hikaru.

"Idiot! You think you can _just become_ a regular?"

Shinji rolled his eyes at the younger player's naivety.

"Why not?" Hikaru replied cluelessly, not at all catching Shinji's tone. "You can do anything if you work hard enough for it."

"That's why you're an idiot." He rolled his eyes again. "It takes more than hard work to become a regular."

"Well, you're not gonna become a regular if you don't try." Hikaru retorted, sticking his tongue out at Shinji to annoy him.

"I try!"

"Do not!"

"How would you know?"

"Oh...I know." Hikaru wheedled Shinji confidently.

Shinji glared at him, looking as if he would really like to chuck the ball in his hands into Hikaru's face.

Kaito just rolled his eyes at his two teammates, used to their antics by now.

"You would believe him if you knew about his training schedule." Kaito decided to defuse the situation, looking straight at Shinji.

"Shindo has a training schedule?" Shinji asked in disbelief.

He eyed their youngest player skeptically. Hikaru didn't seem like the type to plan ahead.

"Of course I do!" Hikaru replied defensively. "Coach and Ino-san helped me with it. It's the best training program in the world!"

"Uh huh." Shinji wasn't buying it, though he was kind of surprised about the part where Hikaru had asked their two coaches for help. He hadn't even thought to do that.

"I run two miles every day at dawn." Hikaru started counting off. "And Coach was _really_ serious about me following the course they planned out for me. He said that it has to be flat and shaded and I have to do warm-ups and drink water before, halfway, and after. Ino-san says that I have to be careful because twelve-year-olds shouldn't run more than that since their bodies aren't fully grown yet."

Hikaru scrunched his face at that thought, but he was sure he would grow taller soon.

"Coach says that he'll tell me when I can run more though. And after I cool down, I'll do footwork exercises in the morning before school. Kaito and I meet up after school on the days we don't have team practice for target training. But he's a goalie, so I have to do more sprint training than he does. And every other day, I do strength conditioning."

Shinji was already staring at Hikaru, open-mouthed with shock.

"He doesn't even mind it." Kaito made sure to nail the point into Shinji with a knowing grin.

"I wish I could do more!" Hikaru agonized dramatically. "But Coach says that if I collapse from training _even once_, he'll kick me off the team!"

Neither Kaito nor Shinji believed that, maybe suspension but not kicking him off the team. But it was probably better to let Shindo continue to believe otherwise.

"The only thing I do mind is the diet." Hikaru grimaced at the reminder. "It's okay if I have to cut out candy and chips and junk, and all of the vegetables and fruits and stuff is okay too, but I can't have as much ramen!"

Shinji smacked his hand into his forehead in disbelief. Kaito just laughed.

"But I figured out a way to help me with that." Hikaru declared proudly. "If I think of my training as ramen, then I'm having ramen every day. I call it the Shindo Hikaru Super Secret Training Regimen Special!"

Shinji got it, he really did. Shindo's training program was insane. But if you thought of all of the pieces of it as ingredients in ramen, then the entire program was one big bowl of greatness (at least to Hikaru).

But Shinji also couldn't help himself.

"Idiot."

"Shut up, Shinji! You don't know anything about ramen!"

"Oh...I know."

And Kaito just ignored them, thankful that at least they continued to work even though they were always arguing.

...

**Author's Notes:**

I realized that if I didn't want this fanfiction to be over a hundred chapters, I was going to have to re-do all of my planning for the rest of the story. But that is the price to pay for weekly-installment fanfiction writing.

Also, there wasn't an omake at the ending of the last arc because this whole chapter is basically one big omake.


	23. Tokyo vs Chiba Invitational I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 23: Tokyo vs. Chiba Invitational I._

...

"Where are the balls?" Coach Takahashi asked, looking up from the clipboard in his hands to glare in the direction he had last seen that particular set of equipment.

Most of the guys in the immediate vicinity sent their silent sympathies to the poor souls in charge of that task.

"Here! The balls are right here!" Shinji shouted as he and Kaito crashed through the crowd, nearly dropping the large nets of soccer balls they were carrying over their shoulders.

Both Shinji and Kaito bent over trying to catch their breath. Hikaru clutched the air pump to his chest, looking up fearfully at their Coach.

They were late. Coach probably knew that they had been goofing off. Hikaru knew he shouldn't have let Shinji get to him! The two of them together meant that they argued more than they worked when Hikaru let Shinji get to him!

Coach eyed the three boys critically. Hikaru flinched when his gaze landed on him, but only gulped and immediately became very interested in his feet. At the very least, he hadn't thrown the air pump and run for the hills like he wanted to.

"Laps." Coach commanded, turning back to the clipboard.

Shinji groaned loudly, but Kaito only looked embarrassed to be standing there. Hikaru didn't do anything; he was too terrified.

However, as the three boys bent over to place the soccer balls and the air pump on the ground, Coach stopped them.

"Laps while carrying everything." Coach told them, not even looking up from the clipboard.

Shinji groaned louder, but Hikaru didn't need to be told twice. He had already high-tailed it out of there for his laps, air pump and all.

And Coach Takahashi let them go, chuckling under his breath.

* * *

Hikaru was lined up with his team, standing in the second row with all of the reserve players. Across from them on their artificially-perfect field, the Chiba Prefecture Team had lined up as well.

Hikaru had only been on the Tokyo Team for the past two invitational games. But the first had been against a school team and the other had been against the local neighborhood team.

The Chiba Team was like the Tokyo Team, a full-fledged Youth Soccer organization with sponsors and their own stadium. The difference in level was immediate from just looking. The Chiba group was dressed in professional-grade uniforms of gold and black, except for the goalies who wore the inverse colors to the rest of the team.

The unflinching intensity coming from the Chiba Team told them that they were here to win, not just have fun or gain experience like the other invitational teams had wanted. They were serious.

But what was most impressive about the Chiba Team was their numbers. They had even more guys on their team than the Tokyo Team did.

"Looks like you brought the whole team." Coach stated dryly as he glanced at the Chiba Team.

The coach of the Chiba Team, an older man with graying hair and excited eyes (but who looked just as fit and in-shape as any man half his age), just grinned. He was wearing a coach's uniform, complete with cleats. The only difference between his uniform and his players' was that he was wearing a whistle and holding a clipboard.

"Takahashi, good day for a game!" The Chiba Coach remarked brightly.

Coach frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"I thought I would give our reserve players some experience, so I brought the entire team." The Chiba Coach looked back proudly at his players. He gave the players in the back row an extra-encouraging smile as he did.

Now that Hikaru was looking more closely, the players in the back row were smaller and more fidgety than the players in the front.

"_Good. I thought they were an army of soccer-playing robots for a second."_ Hikaru sighed with relief.

"What army, Hikaru?" Sai asked, jolted into alertness at the mention of an army. "Quick! Where is your katana?"

Hikaru resisted the urge to smack his own face. His teammates already thought he was weird even without Sai's influence.

"I know I didn't mention it beforehand, Takahashi," The Chiba Coach was addressing their coach again. "But the reserves will never get a chance for game experience when the season starts. We'll play with a time limit, that way we can fit in two games. Please?"

He was still smiling, but somehow the Chiba Coach managed to look sincere and pleading at the same time.

The Tokyo Coach just sighed.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Great!" The Chiba Coach immediately turned to his players. "Reserves game first. That way the regulars can have a chance to avenge them if we lose."

He mentioned their defeat so cheerfully that Hikaru almost gaped at him with his mouth open. And he would have, if not for the even more urgent, shocking, awe-inspiring thought rattling around inside Hikaru's mind like a ricocheting soccer ball.

Today, he was going to be playing a soccer game representing Tokyo.

…

**Author's Notes:**

This is a short chapter. Sorry! But I'm pretty sure that my computer is getting ready to explode and I don't want to tempt fate.


	24. Tokyo vs Chiba Invitational II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 24: Tokyo vs. Chiba Invitational II._

...

"_Hikaru, you must look to your general when standing upon the field of battle. If not, then the war was lost before you ever held a weapon."_

This particular teaching of Sai's had been bizarre, coming out of nowhere when Hikaru had been scrambling to finish his history homework. But Hikaru remembered it well because it had been the first time that he had ever thought of soccer as something other than a game he had fun playing.

Sai had realized that soccer was a game that mimicked battle, just as go was a strategy for war. And while Sai may not have the same burning passion for _saa-kaa_ as Hikaru did, Sai didn't hate soccer. Despite there being little Sai could do in regards to Hikaru's soccer, as Hikaru's self-appointed tutor to all things, Sai had felt the need to teach Hikaru _something_.

So Sai had advised Hikaru with the teaching to always take his orders from his "general". In the game of go, Hikaru was his own general. In soccer, Hikaru was supposed to just do whatever his Coach said even if it was crazy.

And Hikaru had never before realized just how wise Sai truly was. He had never been more sure of this than he was now, standing at the end of the first half of his first semi-pro game, having experienced the most traumatic and painful beating ever given on a soccer field.

"Good effort, reserves." Ino-san encouraged as the team huddled together along the sidelines.

The reserve team had gone out there, no time for a strategy meeting or any real instruction from their coach, expecting that the skill level from their regular mock game days of Regulars vs. Reserves would be enough. The current score was Tokyo: 1, Chiba: 4.

"We're getting killed out there!" Shinji promptly pointed out, too busy catching his breath to wipe the sweat dripping down his face.

"Yes...well..." Ino-san glanced over to the opposite side of the stadium towards the Chiba team. "The Chiba Coach has a rather...storied reputation."

"That man is a monster." Coach Takahashi stated with the conviction of the absolute truth.

Hikaru glanced over at the Chiba Team. The Chiba Coach had congratulated his players by pouncing in and grabbing a few of the guys for a group hug. The three receiving the hug had already pushed their coach off of them, with the irritation that said that they were very used to that kind of behavior from their coach.

"Why do you say he is a monster, Coach?" Kaito asked curiously.

"If you didn't have stamina before you joined his team," Coach replied immediately. "You will possess more of it than you will ever need before you leave."

And as if to prove the point, the Chiba Coach suddenly directed the entire team to start running laps. He dramatically pointed them in the direction they would be going. Their coach would be leading.

Hikaru stared at them. His team looked like they were about to die on their feet. And Hikaru couldn't even imagine Coach Takahashi running laps with them. He was pretty sure that even imagining it would get him kicked off the team.

Hikaru savagely started to shake his head to stop from imagining it. When he glanced up again, Coach was looking straight at him.

Hikaru instinctively leapt back, colliding into two of his nearby teammates.

"Shindo!"

"Are you fainting or dying? Because otherwise you're an idiot."

"Sorry, sorry." Hikaru apologized with a sheepish grin. "I just...uh...tripped."

His two teammates only rolled their eyes at him, but accepted the apology without another word.

Meanwhile, the guys on the Chiba Team passing by were trying hard to hide their laughter as they jogged past (not because they were mean or nice, but because they needed all of the air they could get as they jogged the field).

Hikaru blushed bright red with embarrassment.

"Hurry up, reserves!" The Chiba Coach shouted cheerfully behind him. "If you slow down, then we're picking up the pace!"

The reserve players groaned, especially the ones who had been laughing at Hikaru. But they did run faster to catch up with their coach before he made good on his threat. Meanwhile, Hikaru had noticed that the Chiba regulars were running in a tight, orderly pack right behind their coach. Unlike the reserves players, if they had any opinion on their current activity or Hikaru's blunder, they weren't showing it.

"What are we going to do, Uncle Ino?" Shinji exclaimed dramatically, shaking their assistant coach in the way only family got away with. "They're not just going to beat us! They're going to kill us!"

Coach Takahashi sighed.

"Stop that, Shinji." He commanded.

Shinji immediately let go of his uncle, letting the man dizzily get back to his feet.

"They have stamina," said Coach. "But a team is a reflection of their coach. And their coach is a simple, straightforward kind of man."

"Huh?" replied Shinji.

Coach looked expectantly for Shinji to come up with an answer to his own question. Coach wasn't the kind of man who liked to do all of the thinking for his team.

No one was volunteering to answer the question, so Hikaru hesitantly raised his hand.

"Shindo?" Coach nodded in Hikaru's direction.

"The Chiba Team is using solid plays, Coach," answered Hikaru. "But they don't seem to do much more than the basics."

Coach nodded his approval of the answer, and Hikaru was saved from having a heart attack.

"Their regulars will have more difficult play, but the Chiba reserves only drill the basics." Coach informed them. "They will have perfected the fundamentals, but not much else."

"It's one of the motivations for them to make the regular team in Chiba." Ino-san supplied helpfully, already back to normal. "It's also the reason why they have more regulars on their team than we do."

"So, we just need flashier moves to win?" Shinji asked.

Kaito actually glared at Shinji's stupidity.

"No, we need plays they won't know how to handle."

"That's what I meant!" insisted Shinji.

Kaito rolled his eyes disbelievingly.

It wasn't that the Tokyo Team reserves didn't focus on the fundamentals. Being a reserve player basically meant perfecting the fundamentals. But the Tokyo Team had two signature plays that even reserves practiced.

"Use the Blue Play." Coach instructed them. "Who's the fastest?"

"Takashi's the fastest." Hikaru raised his hand to answer immediately. He was very jealous of Takashi's speed. During their sprints warmups, Hikaru had only ever seen Takashi's back. And during the beginning of the first half, Takashi had scored the only goal they had against Chiba.

"Shindo would be better for the Blue Play." Takashi spoke up. "He has better stamina."

Hikaru actually turned on his heel to gape at Takashi, who was standing behind him. Takashi pretended not to notice.

"But—"

Hikaru had meant to point out that he had only ever practiced that play a handful of times, that he had the least experience of any of the players.

"Takashi-kun is correct in his assessment, Shindo-kun." Ino-san interrupted him. "He's the fastest on the team, but we need a player who can run the play more than once to make up for the gap in points."

"Shindo, you're our Blue." Coach settled it. "Takashi's tired from playing the first half. He won't be able to get his top speed right now."

"But—"

Everyone just ignored him, dividing up the rest of the positions after carefully modifying their strategy to better fit their opponent.

Hikaru was shocked, confused, and _terrified_. He was the Blue. If this play didn't work, it would be entirely his fault. He had to perform and perform well, or all of the effort of his teammates would be putting onto that field was wasted.

Yet, when Hikaru looked down at his hands, they weren't shaking because of terror. They were shaking in excitement.

...

**Author's Notes:**

My new desktop isn't even built yet. I'm still in danger of an explosion.


	25. Tokyo vs Chiba Invitational III

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 25: Tokyo vs. Chiba Invitational III._

...

Bright spring sunlight, thin but consistent, flooded the roof high above. Powerful stadium lights focused on the artificial turf below. And though the stands were empty today, that didn't matter. Their teammates were enough, cheering from the sidelines, shouting incoherently, loudly banging against the benches in an attempt to drown out the other side doing the exact same thing.

All of Hikaru's training, all of his practice, the countless hours he spent perfecting his skills and strengthening his body and imagining the plays, every minute of that mattered right here and right now. He was their Blue. His entire team was supporting him.

The ref called the start. The ball came in play. And Hikaru didn't watch it. He trusted Shinji to get the ball to him, because for all of Shinji's talk and occasional laziness, he was still the best player at stealing and changing the possession. Shinji's out-of-nowhere attacks and skillful, precise footwork made him a midfielder to be feared.

Behind Hikaru, Shinji was judging distance and speed, remotely aware of the place of the other players, calculating the time they would need to reach the various points he was making up in his head. But part of the beauty of a tackle was attacking head on despite the risk. And so, he fearlessly charged in between the two Chiba players without any pause between thought and action. After all, Shinji was good at what he did. He had already accurately gauged the exact instance to cleanly sweep the ball from them.

Shinji leapt straight across the two players, sliding across the grass, a perfect turnover. And once the cut had been made, he passed it to Takashi, who wasn't the closest but was the best candidate for crossing the field by Shinji's estimation. And just as he should, Takashi immediately left Shinji in the dust as he focused solely on getting the ball to Hikaru.

Everyone knew what their roles were during the Blue Play. It was to get the ball to their Blue.

Hikaru was halfway to the goal by the time he came into possession of the ball, too far ahead for the Chiba players to catch up to him.

This was when all of his time practicing with Kaito paid off. Hikaru watched as the Chiba goalie narrowed his eyes at Hikaru's feint, already anticipating the true trajectory...only for Hikaru to make good on the bluff.

The Chiba goalie had to adjust mid-action, just a heartbeat too late to stop Hikaru's bluffed-feint move.

Somewhere behind him and along the sidelines, the entire Tokyo Team was going out of their minds cheering.

"Keep it up, Shindo!"

"We're counting on you, Blue!"

As Hikaru turned and jogged back to start positions, his teammates on the field stopped to clap him on the back, or gave him a high five, or a thumbs up, or a compliment. Hikaru tried to nod and smile at everyone, but his head was still spinning from all of the adrenaline rushing through his system.

"Hehe, looks like I really saved your butt this time, Shindo." Shinji boasted loudly as Hikaru caught up with him, practically leaping on top of Hikaru in his excitement.

"You saved _who_?" Hikaru immediately shouted in challenge. It was a habit.

Shinji's only reply was a huge grin. Hikaru made a face at him and shoved him off.

The score was Tokyo: 2, Chiba: 4. They still had a long way to go.

* * *

The Blue Play was fairly simple to understand, much harder to execute. The Blue was the player who would be wearing a target on his back. In this case, it was Hikaru. In the beginning, it was Hikaru's job to get ahead, wait for the ball, and score the goal before the opposing players caught up with him.

But naturally, after a few goals, the other team would pick up on the pattern. They would figure out that the other players were doing everything they could to get the ball to Hikaru, because that was basically all they were doing on the field when the Blue Play was used.

Hikaru had scored three goals before the opposing team decided to do something about this.

Though Hikaru was probably faster, those Chiba guys were persistent. While Shinji and Takashi were out there in the middle of the fray, Hikaru was startled when three Chiba guys came out of nowhere and made a human wall around him.

"_Where did these guys come from?"_ Hikaru exclaimed to himself in his head before he made a break for it.

If they had been playing on actual dirt and grass, there would be pieces of the field flying in the air after how quickly Hikaru turned on his heel.

The three Chiba guys bolted after him, so Hikaru had definitely been marked.

Grinning to himself, Hikaru turned and ran back towards midfield. He caught the pass that had been meant for him early. Shinji's startled expression was enough to tell him that he was surprised to see Hikaru, who should have been much further away from them.

But this was The Sign. Hikaru held the ball only for a few seconds before passing it back and rushing straight back to where he had been. It had to look like he was trying to make himself open in order to score again.

Hikaru was a marked man, the main target. He had definitely succeeded in doing that much if he had three guys after him. But if there were three Chiba guys against one Hikaru, then that only left _seven_ Chiba players to face off against the remaining _nine_ Tokyo players. Chiba was now spread thin on the field.

"_I'll leave it up to you, guys."_ Hikaru silently cheered for his teammates. _"Your Blue isn't going to let you down."_

Now was the time for the infamous Blue Play switch off. Once the Blue was marked, the tactics changed. And now, all Hikaru had to do was run around the field and make his human wall chase after him, preferably out of the way of his teammates. Hikaru would keep his three guys busy as the others scored the goals.

In the end, being The Blue only meant he had to keep the attention on him. It didn't matter if Hikaru was scoring goals, or just wasting the opposing manpower in order to allow his teammates to score goals. And if Chiba figured out what they were doing and they left Hikaru alone to deal with his teammates, then his teammates would switch back to doing everything they could to get Hikaru the ball again.

The Blue Play was one of the two prides of the Tokyo Team. When executed well, with the cooperation of the whole team, it tipped the scales in their favor for a win.

And it would have today, if not for the late start.

The reserves game ended Tokyo: 4, Chiba: 5.

...

**Author's Notes:**

It took me forever to invent my Blue Play. It had to be something that wasn't too complicated because they're still the reserve team, but tactical enough to give my Tokyo Team an advantage against the monstrous Chiba Team. I'm happy with the result, but sad that Hikaru lost his first semi-pro game. :(

...

**Author's Notes II:**

The scores of my Tokyo vs. Chiba game have been changed thanks to the efforts of one very _persistent_ and _convincing_ reader in particular. Nothing else has been edited besides the number of goals. I apologize for having written anything so inaccurate, and will strive to be much more vigilant in the future.

...

**Extra/Omake #4: The Regulars Avenge Their Reserves**

"Alright, guys," The captain of the Tokyo Team addressed the Tokyo regulars with a steely gaze. "Let's go out there and avenge our reserve team."

"Yeah! Our cute reserves nearly pulled off a perfect Blue Play today!"

"If it weren't for that late start, they would've won against the stupid Chibas!"

"We're the sempais! We'll defend them."

"Alright then," The captain nodded with determination. "Let's use the Blue Play too. Show them how it's done."

"Yes, Captain!" replied the chorus of players.

"So, who's our Blue today?" The captain asked.

A hand rose up immediately. "I volunteer!"

"What?! You can't be the Blue!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"We want to win this game, not lose it!"

The player who had volunteered crossed his arms and pouted. He was the lone jumpsuit-ed and gloved uniform amongst the entire group of players.

"Well, why can't the goalie be the Blue?" He asked his teammates.

"We're all trying to be serious here. Quit kidding around."

"Idiot!"

Grudgingly accepting his fate, their goalie sighed.

"This play is so biased."


	26. Spring Junior High Go Tournament I

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 26: Spring Junior High Go Tournament I._

...

"Hikaru!" Akari shouted down the hall, ignoring all of the attention she was receiving. "Hikaru!"

Shindo Hikaru finally stopped at the far end of the hall, turning to see Akari dodging between the crowd of students littering the hall as she raced up to him. From the frown evening her mouth into a thin line, and the way her eyebrows knitted together, Hikaru recognized immediately that she was on a mission.

Hikaru sighed and decided to just get this over with. The urge to turn and run as fast as he could was still there, but he wasn't really in the mood.

"Hey, Akari." Hikaru greeted her dully after she had finally caught up with him.

"Hikaru," Akari puffed out, trying hard not to make it obvious that she was winded. "You don't have practice today, right?"

Hikaru adjusted the straps of his backpack along his shoulders, turning to look out of the window he was currently standing beside. Though, he wouldn't be able to tell you if it had been sunny or storming outside if you asked him.

He didn't have team practice today. Usually, this meant that he would be practicing with Kaito…but Kaito didn't much feel like practicing either. They hadn't set up any extra practice time together this week.

In the end, Hikaru just shrugged his reply.

His mother had told Akari's mother (who had, of course, told Akari) of the outcome of the Chiba Invitational Game. Akari had already come over to his house to try to cheer him up this week. And Hikaru had only sat there as she had basically chatted about school and friends and club activities with herself. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to try to cheer him up again.

"You can come with me to go club then." Akari suggested brightly.

At this, Sai nearly jumped at the invitation. Usually, he would be begging and pleading Hikaru to go right now.

But Sai held himself back. Since the Chiba game, Hikaru had been quiet and serious and had actually listened to his go lectures without complaint. If Sai had ever wished Hikaru were such a student, he regretted it now. Without all of the questions and complaints and challenges on his logic, Hikaru seemed to have lost his spirit.

"I need the extra practice if I'm going to be in the spring tournament."

"What spring tournament?" Hikaru asked, turning to Akari with interest for the first time.

Akari beamed, hurriedly explaining,

"The Spring Junior High Go Tournament. It's kind of like the Winter Junior High Go Tournament only…uh, in the spring." She finished lamely, frowning slightly at having given Hikaru such a dorky answer.

She was sure that Hikaru would lose interest (or make fun of her) after that. But Hikaru seemed to be considering her offer.

"_Maybe we should go,"_ thought Hikaru. _"...Sai?"_

Sai very carefully controlled his facial expression as he smiled back supportively at Hikaru. His grip tightened along his fan, but it wasn't for himself. Sai just didn't know what to make of Hikaru's quiet reluctance. Had Hikaru been thinking about him and wanted to visit the go club? Or (and Sai hoped it was this) did Hikaru want to go to the go club for himself?

Sai was sure that even Hikaru wouldn't know the answer to this question though.

"I suppose your friends will be better company."

Hikaru meant to deny this right away. Sai knew as much because of their bond.

But Hikaru didn't have the time. Akari had decided to do what she was best at doing: taking the initiative.

"WAH! Akari! What are you doing?" Hikaru exclaimed as he hopped awkwardly along his side on one foot.

"Come on, Hikaru! Or we'll be late for go club!"

Akari continued to drag Hikaru down the hall with her. And, for a girl, she had a really strong grip on his arm.

* * *

Since the start of the invitational games, Hikaru hadn't come by the go club. Because of this, Tsutsui was especially happy to see Hikaru, forgetting whatever he had been doing at that moment in order to greet Hikaru properly.

And in addition to Tsutsui's welcome, Hikaru was surprised to see two other people in the room.

"Hey, did the Go Club get new members?" asked Hikaru.

"Hikaru, you haven't been here in a while," Akari pointed out. "But don't you remember? I told you already that we have a girls team for the spring tournament."

"Oh…yeah. Right." Hikaru replied, though he had no idea what Akari was talking about.

From the way Akari was looking at him, she probably knew that he didn't remember.

"Kaneko Masako." A stern-looking girl Hikaru vaguely thought familiar stepped up to introduce herself. "I'm in your class, Shindo."

Hikaru stared at her with concentration for a second.

"Oh! Kaneko-san!" Hikaru exclaimed once he finally put face to name. "I thought you were in the volleyball club?"

"She is." Akari answered. "But she knows how to play go, and she agreed to play a board for the girls team during the tournament."

"I'm not around much, but I thought I should polish my go skills before the tournament." Kaneko said to Hikaru.

Hikaru nodded with approval. Even if it was only for the tournament, at least Kaneko was taking this seriously. But then again, she seemed to be a pretty responsible athlete.

"And this is Kumiko-chan." Akari pulled a quiet-looking girl closer to the group. "She's in my class and she hadn't joined a club yet, so I told her how fun the go club was."

"Shindo Hikaru." Hikaru introduced himself. "Nice to meet you."

"Tsuda Kumiko." The quiet girl replied properly, though she seemed too nervous to take her eyes off the floor.

Hikaru wondered if she were uncomfortable because of him. He decided to encourage her, hoping that she would loosen up a bit around him.

"Keep working hard, Tsuda-san! The go club is really fun."

She blushed, still looking down at her feet.

"You—You can just…call me Kumiko, Shindo-san." Kumiko offered nervously.

"Sure, Kumiko-chan." Hikaru grinned at her.

Kumiko immediately blushed again, but nodded to show Hikaru that she had heard him.

Before anything more could be said, the door to the science room opened again. And this time, it was a guy who stepped through the door.

Two pairs of eyes suddenly widened in shocked recognition.

"_YOU!_" Hikaru and Sai both shouted, pointing straight at the newcomer.

"Hikaru?" Tsutsui looked at Hikaru curiously. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You know Mitani-kun?"

"Mitani?" Hikaru turned back to Tsutsui, the instance before he connected that 'Mitani' must be the kid's name.

"Mitani's in our class too." Kaneko answered for Hikaru. It was becoming pretty clear that Hikaru was incapable of answering for himself.

Mitani Yuki didn't seem much affected by Hikaru's outburst or the fact that everyone was staring at him now. He just put his bag down on the table and took his usual seat in front of the go club's battered old goban.

"_He is?"_ Hikaru exclaimed. _"Then why didn't you recognize him before, Sai?"_

"But I don't recognize him, Hikaru." replied Sai. "At least I do not recognize him as one of your classmates."

"_I really gotta pay more attention__ to my classmates,"_ thought Hikaru. _"Especially if they all end up in the go club."_

Tsutsui had already finished assembling the goban when he nodded at the explanation Kaneko had given.

"Well, it's good to see you again, Shindo-kun." Tsutsui said. "With Kaneko-san practicing with us these past few days, and you visiting today, this really feels like a real club now."

Seeing the look on Tsutsui's face then, Hikaru didn't have the heart to tell Tsutsui the real reason he knew Mitani. If the guy hadn't been caught cheating yet, then he must not have cheated, and so Mitani must not be cheating anymore. Right?

When Hikaru glanced over at Mitani again, Mitani was watching him very carefully.

"Oh yeah, we're classmates." Hikaru shrugged, deciding not to reveal how he really knew Mitani. "I knew he played go, but I didn't know he joined the go club."

"If you knew he played go, why didn't you tell me?" Akari demanded with a huff. "I could have tried to convince him to join sooner instead of worrying all those weeks."

"I…err…" Hikaru scratched at his head, trying to come up with a good excuse. He had been around at the beginning of the year when the go club had been desperate for members, and he had even declared so confidently that he would find them another member. He was really regretting his big mouth.

"Shindo convinced me to join the go club." Mitani spoke up. "He and his friend showed up one day and told me that I could learn a lot here."

"Friend?" Akari picked up on this immediately. "What friend?"

At this, Mitani raised his eyebrow in Hikaru's direction.

"I have lots of friends, Akari!" Hikaru exclaimed, more to make noise than out of any actual outrage. "Jeez! You don't have to know all of them. And you definitely don't have to be around every time I hang out with one."

Immediately, Akari's face darkened with actual outrage.

"Fine!" She shouted, crossing her arms with annoyance. "See if I care!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, though wisely did not point out that she had _already_ cared.

"Just for that, you owe me a teaching game." Akari then nearly yanked Hikaru's arm out of the socket as she dragged him towards the plastic goban at another table.

"Hey! Who says you can boss me around?"

"Everyone. Now sit down and help me and Kumiko-chan prepare for the tournament."

Over at the other table, Kaneko set her things down to join the battered-goban group. If Shindo was good enough to be playing a teaching game with Akari and Kumiko, then she would benefit more playing against Tsutsui or Mitani today.

Sai trailed behind Hikaru, smiling at the members of Haze Go Club. Sai would play magnificent teaching games today in Hikaru's place. He wanted to thank them in the best way he was able.

…

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry this chapter was posted much later than usual. But it is still Saturday, so I have at least kept my promise to update this fanfiction every Saturday.


	27. Spring Junior High Go Tournament II

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 27: Spring Junior High Go Tournament II._

...

"Hikaru, you better not be late." Akari's voice lectured him sternly in his memory. "Since I'm the only one with tournament experience, I'm playing the captain's board and I'm really nervous about it."

"I still don't see why I have to be there." Hikaru had grumbled as he had picked at his lunch.

Akari had just barged into his class again. Some of the guys had been snickering about it behind him, but Hikaru's glare had shut them up. Still, he didn't appreciate being ordered to literally run from his weekend soccer practice to the Spring Junior High Go Tournament just because Akari was ordering him to do it.

Akari smacked him in the head.

"Ow!" Hikaru exclaimed, rubbing at his head and glaring at her through one eye. It hadn't really hurt, but he wanted her to feel bad.

"We're not playing in this order because we're sacrificing the captain!" Akari had made sure he understood. "I might not be as strong as Kaneko-san, but I've been going to Shirakawa-sensei's class every week and he told me that I have a lot of potential!"

"Who's Shirakawa-sensei?" asked Hikaru. "Do I know him?"

Akari practically fumed, she was so close to exploding.

"Our sensei at the community center." She reminded him in exasperation. "You took his class him once."

Hikaru thought that sounded familiar.

"_Wasn't that when you went nuts over vending machines, Sai__?"_ Hikaru had looked over at the ghost, who was standing somewhat over and behind Akari's shoulder.

"Oh, yes," Sai tapped the tip of his fan to his chin as he reminisced at the fond memory. "That is a delightful invention. It dispensed both hot and cold drinks at whim. What a marvelous thing you have in your present time, Hikaru."

Hikaru rolled his eyes at Sai, which only earned him another smack to the top of his head. Akari had thought he was rolling his eyes at her.

"And make sure you dress up, Hikaru." Akari had reminded him. "We're supposed to show up in our school uniforms, but I think that only applies to the tournament participants."

When he had looked up again, he had fully expected her to be mad. She usually was. But she had looked so pleadingly at him then that Hikaru hadn't had a choice but to promise her that he would show up.

"_Were girls this troublesome when you were alive, Sai?"_ Hikaru tossed over his shoulder as he practically leapt out from the underground subway entrance and shot straight down the street.

His gear bag banged heavily against his hip even though Hikaru was using both of his hands to keep it from smacking him around too much as he sprinted down the street. He hadn't bothered to shower after practice in an attempt to get here faster, so he was still wearing his practice uniform. And he still had his socks and jersey on, since he had only paused to replace his cleats with sneakers. At least he had thrown on his obviously-cool black and gray striped hoodie. That was Hikaru's idea of "dressing up".

"You might change your mind about that when you're older." Sai teased him.

Hikaru looked up at Sai uncomprehendingly. Sai _would_ start joking around at a time like this. Besides, the ghost didn't even really have to run. Hikaru was sure that Sai had pulled out his ghost tricks and was effortlessly half-leaping/half-gliding along the street right now. With how much Hikaru ran around, Sai had had to adjust a long time ago.

Hikaru was panting heavily by the time he got to Kaio. It wasn't even really that much of a distance; he ran longer when he jogged in the mornings. Hikaru guessed he should start a training program that included lugging a heavy gear bag with him then because this was excruciating.

But despite his great reluctance to agree, Hikaru really wanted to be there for his friends today. Though he didn't spend that much time with the go club anymore, Hikaru knew that this tournament meant a lot to them. They had been practicing practically every day, and Hikaru had had to endure hours of Akari's updates about their team formations and how each player was progressing and other random bits of information Hikaru was sure only members of the actual club should know.

He had turned down Kaito's offer for extra practice today (though they had set up practices for that week) just so he could at least make it for the second half of the tournament.

"_We're here!"_ Hikaru shouted to Sai as he completed the last leg of his journey and pushed his way down the corridor.

A few people looked up at him when he pulled open the door to the tournament room, but had just-as-quickly looked back down upon seeing that whoever was standing there wasn't that important.

From the uniforms they were wearing, Hikaru could see that everyone left in the tournament hall were Kaio Go Club members. They were putting the room back in order, folding chairs and tables to be placed back into storage. The gobans had been cleared. The timers had been packed away. And the tournament order had already been pulled down from the board.

From the general good cheer of the Kaio students, Kaio had won the tournament again this year.

Hikaru sighed. Of course he was late. He was so late that he had missed the whole thing. You couldn't be this late and not know how late you were.

Dejectedly, Hikaru slid the door shut and leaned against the wall right outside the tournament room. As he did, one of the Kaio students picked up the greeting board that announced the Spring Junior High Go Tournament and disappeared with it.

"Well, at the very least," Sai settled beside him, attempting to offer encouragement. "You can tell Akari-chan that you made every effort to get here."

"_Yeah,"_ Hikaru sighed. _"But I still didn't make it."_

Sai didn't say anything more. Sai knew the reason why Hikaru hadn't been able to make it to the tournament today. And he could attest that Hikaru _had _actually sprinted the entire way here. But Sai knew, at this moment, Hikaru hadn't needed to hear that.

Instead, Sai was content to do what he could for Hikaru, which was just to wait with him.

"Hey, the teams are going out to celebrate now that we're done cleaning up."

Hikaru resisted the urge to turn his head as he overheard the two Kaio students exiting the tournament room talking to one another. Luckily, they hadn't noticed Hikaru standing there yet.

Obviously, Hikaru looked in the other direction and pretended to whistle. Sometimes, all he had to do was look like a dumb jock and no one ever paid any attention to him.

"Both the girls and boys teams?" The other Kaio student asked. "Is it just tournament participants or are even us peons helping clean up invited?"

"Ha ha," His friend replied sarcastically. "Of course everyone is invited. We won the tournament. Time to celebrate!"

"Wait…"

There was a pause as the both of them stopped right in their tracks in the middle of the hallway.

"What about Touya Akira? He played first board on the boys team, right?"

Almost immediately, the other shook his head.

"Nah, Touya isn't going to come to this. And definitely not after what happened. Besides…"

The Kaio kid's voice dropped to a whisper then. Hikaru had to strain every muscle in his body in order to hear him.

"…has to know that no one wants him around, after all."

They continued on their way after that and the voices of the two students faded down the hall. But Hikaru was too shocked to move.

…

**Author's Notes:**

I am _really_ not good at writing long chapters.


	28. Spring Junior High Go Tournament III

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 28: Spring Junior High Go Tournament III._

...

Touya Akira methodically placed, washed, rinsed, and polished the many small go stones from the lines of containers next to him. The stones would then be set atop the dry towels arranged on the tables behind him. And if Akira were the type to be whimsical, he would have described the scene as a riverbed of hundreds, nearly thousands, of shiny black and white stones. In the weak light of the spring afternoon, the sun hit the smooth surface of the stones just as if they were all glistening underwater.

But no, Touya Akira was practical and sensible and honest. He was standing alone in an empty classroom washing the stones from all of the boards of the tournament today.

He knew that two other first-year students had been assigned to this task, but they hadn't shown up. And so this after-tournament chore had taken three times longer than it should have.

Dispassionately, Akira glanced down the long industrial sink that stood along the entire length of wall. All of the go stone containers still needed to be washed, dried, and polished before the batches of stones could be returned to them. With a tired sigh, Akira stopped briefly to wipe at his face with his bare arm. He had rolled up his sleeves to save his cuffs, and at least his uniform was still dry. What else was good about his situation when it looked like he would be here another few hours at least.

Somewhere down the hall, Akira heard the rapid steps of someone running. He wouldn't have even thought twice about it if not for the strange occurrence that these steps would run only a short distance, pause, and then sprint ahead another short distance only to pause again.

While Akira had already turned back to his task at hand, he listened as the running steps grew louder and the pause was filled with a noise he vaguely recognized as doors being slid open and shut.

And though he had already been expecting it, but Akira still jumped in surprise when the steps ran up to the classroom he was standing in and the door was swiftly thrown open. He was glad he was only holding a wet hand towel then or he would have loudly dropped all of the go stones back into the metal sink.

A head with blonde bangs poked its way in.

"Ahh!" Hikaru shouted, immediately latching onto the doorframe with all of his might just as his body had started to dart away. "There you are, Touya!"

Akira's eyes widened impossibly at the sight.

"Shindo…san?" He asked in disbelief. He didn't quite trust himself. Maybe he was whimsical after all.

"Not 'san'," Hikaru corrected out of habit as he invited himself in. "Just Shindo."

Hikaru glanced around the room. What looked like every go stone in the city had been set up on the towels atop the tables. And it was almost painfully clear that Touya Akira was the only one there.

Almost immediately, Akira could feel himself shrinking. He felt ashamed even though he knew there was no logical reason. He just didn't want Hikaru to see this part of himself. It was a miracle that Hikaru hadn't noticed anything strange the day the soccer player had barged into club activities looking for him.

It was something shameful and illogical, but Akira was still afraid that Hikaru wouldn't want to be his friend anymore if he ever saw all of the parts Akira was missing.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Hikaru complained lightly, purposefully casual as he made exaggerated motions to highlight 'everywhere'.

"You have?" Akira yelped in surprise.

"This school is too big!" Hikaru exclaimed as he threw his soccer bag onto the ground and cracked some of his limbs loose. "I didn't think so when I started looking room to room for you, but I sure understood it when I was doing it."

Akira flushed with embarrassment, overwhelmed by the thought that someone had done that for him. This room was on the other side of the building and down a level from the tournament room. There must have been almost thirty doors between here and there.

But suddenly, just like being blindsided in the dark by a wave of cold water, the sensible and practical part of Touya Akira caught up with him.

Akira bit his lip in hesitation.

"Ano…"

"Hmm?" Hikaru looked up, still rotating both of his shoulders as if he were paddling upstream.

"…I think the Haze team left already…"

Akira clutched at his left arm and he forced himself to say it.

"I'm sorry you missed your friends."

Hikaru blinked.

"What?" Hikaru exclaimed.

Akira stared at the sink, trying very hard not to be disappointed.

"You're a weird guy, Touya. I know they left already. I came here to see you!"

Akira whipped his head back around, turning to see Hikaru looking at him with an obvious 'Duh' across his face. He floundered for a response, certain that regular people usually had something to say back to one another in a conversation. All he managed to do was to move his mouth as if he were a talking fish out of water.

Instead of noticing Akira's inability to respond though, Hikaru pushed up the sleeves of his hoodie as he peered into the sink.

"So, what are we doing?"

"Oh! Um…you don't have to—" Akira tried to protest, but Hikaru just plunged his hands in without much further ado.

"Don't worry, Touya." Hikaru assured him cheerfully. "I've helped Tsutsui-san wash go stones before. I know all about being careful because they break and chip easy and stuff."

"That's not really…" Akira frowned, wondering if being a good host applied when you were at your school and someone from another school came to visit you.

"With two people, you can get done twice as fast!" Hikaru proclaimed, turning on the tap. "Teamwork, Touya! Coach says that's how you win the game."

Hikaru wanted to help and, even more pressingly, Akira needed it. Hesitantly, Akira compromised with himself that Hikaru had come all the way to see him and it would be more rude to make Hikaru watch him clean go stones and containers.

"I would really appreciate the help." He admitted gratefully.

Akira quickly returned to what he was doing from before Hikaru had suddenly showed up, checking on Hikaru's progress from the corner of his eye just in case Hikaru needed help. Akira couldn't have cared less if he and Hikaru had chipped and scratched all of the go stones right now, but he didn't want his guest to feel uncomfortable.

Akira didn't need to worry though. Hikaru seemed very comfortable and familiar with their task. Absently, Akira wondered how many times Hikaru had helped his school's go club wash stones before.

"Hey, Touya…" Hikaru broke the focused silence, snapping Akira out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" Akira asked curiously, somewhat afraid that he had been caught monitoring Hikaru. It wasn't because Akira didn't trust Hikaru with the go stones, really!

Looking at Hikaru, Akira was fairly certain that Hikaru hadn't noticed though. But he didn't know what he should think about the incredibly mischievous grin Hikaru had on his face then.

"What are you doing after this?" Hikaru asked. "I thought we should go…celebrate."

Akira wondered if he should be concerned or frightened...and whether he should be feeling that for himself or others. But from the way Hikaru had said 'celebrate', whatever evil thing Hikaru was plotting didn't seem to be for him.

When Akira saw that Hikaru would only really accept one response to his offer, Akira tilted his head slightly and replied,

"I would…_like_ that?"

If Hikaru had heard any of the uncertainty in Akira's tone, he had chosen to ignore it.

…

**Author's Notes:**

It was really tricky writing from Touya's point of view. He's almost the exact opposite of writing Hikaru, and I got so exhausted that I had to take a nap. But I'm happy with all of the parallels I got to set up between them in this chapter.

There were twenty-eight doors from the tournament room to the room Touya was in (in honor of this being chapter 28 of "Go, Soccer Player, Go!"). And lastly, next week's chapter: _Vengeance! Hikaru Style_.


	29. Spring Junior High Go Tournament IV

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

**Go, Soccer Player, Go!**

_Chapter 29: Spring Junior High Go Tournament IV._

...

Hikaru felt his left eyebrow twitch as he looked up at the building ahead. He wasn't sure if he should even try to calculate how much this place would cost. He might end up depressed.

"_Gah! These Kaio guys like expensive places too much! __ Do you__ remember if __I __did__ anything to cut __my__ allowance this week__, Sai?"_

"Hikaru, I think you already spent all your pocket money on ramen this week." Sai pointed out.

"_Ahh!__ I forgot!__"_ Hikaru scrubbed at his head, messing up all of his hair. _"And I don't get any more money until Monday__.__"_

"I wonder why your parents give you money on Mondays." Sai pondered aloud. "Wouldn't it be a much better idea to give you money on the weekends?"

"_Parents are weird." _Hikaru grumbled.

Actually, Hikaru did know why his parents always gave him money on Monday. There had been one too many weekends in which he spent all of his allowance on manga or video games (and then didn't have the money for his weekly subway ticket) in the past.

Not that Hikaru thought that his parents were being fair. He had been a stupid kid when that had happened! He had thought that money never ran out then. He wouldn't be so dumb as to waste all of his limited, precious money now!

"Is something the matter, Shindo?"

Hikaru stopped to look back at Akira, who had been standing there politely the entire time he had been agonizing.

"Err…no!" Hikaru exclaimed, straightening up and tugging at his hoodie just as if he had always intended doing that.

"This place is just a little more fancy than I thought." babbled Hikaru, laughing awkwardly at what hadn't even really been a joke. "I kind of feel like I should've worn something else."

Akira looked at Hikaru's soccer uniform, sneakers, and the bright blue and yellow athletic bag at his side. And looking back at the restaurant they were in front of, Akira suddenly felt very awkward about having been the one to bring Hikaru here.

"I think this establishment is used to serving Kaio students since it's so close to the school." Akira assured him. "I'm sure you're fine."

"Oh, is that right?" Hikaru tried to sound light and casual, but his voice cracked…twice.

"We could go somewhere else." Akira suggested brightly.

Though Hikaru understood why Akira would want to do that, right now, the location of their tournament celebration/revenge was one thing Hikaru wasn't about to budge on.

Hikaru squared his shoulders and looked directly into the restaurant.

"Well, we won't know what they'll do until they do it."

"I really don't—"

"Come on, Touya!"

Hikaru marched straight into the building and through the door before Akira could even finish. He hurried to catch up as Hikaru approached the hostess standing at the front entrance.

"Welcome." The young, pretty woman behind the podium greeted both boys with a smile.

"Is it just the two of you today?" She asked them.

"Yes." Akira nodded.

"Umm, miss," Hikaru nervously shuffled his feet, running his hand through his head in an attempt to look more presentable. "Is there a dress code or anything because…uh…"

"Oh!" She exclaimed, before immediately shaking her head. "No, there's no dress code here."

"Good." Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry." She winked down at Hikaru. "You're perfectly fine the way you are."

Hikaru managed to stutter something resembling a thank you, simultaneously wondering if she could tell that he was blushing.

"_Hehe, she seems to like me, Sai."_ Hikaru thought goofily to the ghost. _"I mean, she's doing a really good job welcoming me."_

"Of course, Hikaru." Sai rolled his eyes behind Hikaru. "But I think that's her job."

"_Wait!"_ Hikaru jolted back to his senses. _"I can use that."_

"Um, miss?" Hikaru put on his most charming smile. "Is the Kaio Go Club here? My friend and I heard that they won their tournament today."

The hostess looked a bit surprised by the question. And Akira frowned, wondering if what they were doing was dishonest in some way. Hikaru elbowed him painfully in his ribs before he could say anything though.

"Um, yes, they are." She didn't really want to think of this suspiciously. "One of the members of the club told me that the entire Kaio Go Club is here celebrating today."

Akira thought it was rather impressive that he hadn't even flinched when she had said 'entire', but Hikaru caught on enough to know that Akira was bothered by it.

"Thanks, miss!" Hikaru grinned up at her. "My friend here goes to Kaio. He just wanted to stop by to congratulate them."

"Oh, that's so sweet of you." She gushed over Akira, forgetting all of her suspicions almost immediately. "Would you like to be seated near them?"

"That's nice of you, but we don't want to get in the way of their celebration." Hikaru answered for the obviously-distressed Akira. "We'll congratulate them later. I'm starving!"

"If you're hungry, you should definitely eat first. Follow me." The hostess declared, though she was already ushering them towards the seating area.

Hikaru made sure to turn up the charm as she seated them, chatting lightly as she got them settled and poured them a couple of glasses of water. He didn't need her to be suspicious and keep checking up on them.

Hikaru scooted himself towards the center, leaving enough room for Sai to also sit at the booth while he glared at Hikaru with disapproval.

Ignoring his tutor, Hikaru scanned the overly-fancy leather-bound menu he had been given.

"_This might be all I can afford."_ Hikaru mentally grumbled into his water.

Akira was currently trying to look as small and inconspicuous as possible. The two of them had opted for a booth, mostly because it was on the other side of the low wall where the Kaio Go Club was currently celebrating. Also because booths were a little more private than open tables and Hikaru needed all of the secrecy he could get if he was going to be doing something sneaky.

"Shindo, why exactly did you want to come here?" Akira whispered to Hikaru, quickly opening the menu and sticking his face behind it.

"Because this is where the Kaio Go Club is celebrating." Hikaru replied obviously, also in whisper. "You're a part of the club. I even know that you played first board today. You deserve to be here as much as any of them."

Akira turned to Hikaru in shock.

"How did you know I played first board?" Akira asked. "You said that you missed the whole tournament."

"I overheard one of those jerks saying it." Hikaru replied offhandedly. "Wait...who cares how I know that? Focus on our plan, Touya."

"What plan?!" Akira exclaimed.

Both Hikaru and Akira ducked behind their menus again as the Kaio Go Club suddenly quieted a bit.

"Did anyone else hear that?" One of the Kaio kids asked.

"Hear what?"

"I don't know. It kind of sounded like Touya Akira."

"Touya? You must be hearing things."

Hikaru focused very hard on the 'mixed sandwich' until the noise level had returned to normal on the other side of the wall.

"Shindo…" Akira ground out through gritted teeth. He still wasn't looking out from behind his menu. "What plan?"

"Our plan for revenge, Touya." Hikaru declared, resolutely putting his menu down. He couldn't afford anything in it anyway. "These jerks deserve it."

Akira said nothing. He was pretending to be intently perusing the menu. After all, he had no idea what, or how much, Hikaru knew.

"I say," Hikaru dropped his voice down to a conspiring whisper. "We sabotage them."

"What?" Akira hissed.

And out of good sense, the both of them glanced back over the wall and checked to make sure they hadn't been heard again.

Once clear, Akira asked,

"What are we sabotaging exactly? The tournament is over. And I wouldn't want you to sabotage the tournament anyway."

Hikaru looked back at Akira blankly.

Sai snickered behind his fan.

"Alright," Hikaru scratched out Plan A for Plan B. "We put hot sauce in their food."

"They've been here for hours already. Most are done eating by now."

"We humiliate them by challenging them to soccer!"

"There's only two of us. Only you're good at playing soccer. And they would never accept the challenge."

"Water balloons!" Hikaru snapped his fingers at his own brilliance. "Like, we want to ruin their day but we don't want to actually _hurt_ them. It's perfect!"

"Do you have water balloons with you?" Akira asked knowingly.

Hikaru immediately slumped over in defeat.

All of his hopes dashed, Hikaru groaned and pressed his face into the tabletop.

"You know, Touya, for a smart guy, all you can point out are problems."

Akira snorted.

When Hikaru snapped his head back up to look at Akira in surprise, no one could possibly look more surprised by his own response than Akira did at that moment.

Hikaru couldn't help himself. He snorted too. And suddenly, both boys were laughing.

Hikaru had to smash his face back into the table. And Akira was politely suppressing his laughter as much as possible behind the menu. But it was obvious that neither was very upset at their lack of revenge progress.

Meanwhile, Sai sighed with relief. He was glad that at least Akira was the kind of friend that wouldn't have let Hikaru enact his revenge schemes.

"Still," Hikaru sighed as he fiddled with his drink. "I don't think it's fair, Touya. I mean, you're a part of the club too. Clubs are supposed to be fun and anyone should be able to join in on the fun."

"I know." Akira admitted with a slight sigh. "But actually, I don't regret joining the go club. Even with the bullying—"

"They bullied you!" Hikaru shouted.

Akira had to literally grab the back of Hikaru's hood and forcefully pull Hikaru back before he left the booth. Hikaru ended up losing his balance and crashing into Akira's side, but Akira could take a bruise on his shoulder or two.

"It's okay now." Akira sharply assured Hikaru.

"What? How?" Hikaru exclaimed in disbelief. "Because you beat them up, right?"

Akira briefly recounted what the three Kaio Go Club members Ito, Kojima, and Okumura had done to get Hidaka-sempai so mad at them for bullying him. Hikaru was fuming by the end, but somewhat placated by the fact that someone had come to Akira's defense.

"Well, I guess you _kind of_ beat them up…" Hikaru reluctantly grumbled. "…in go."

Akira wasn't sure how he should be feeling about Hikaru's scrunched expression. He only hoped the expression didn't have anything to do with go and Hikaru was just disappointed that Akira hadn't actually, physically "beat them up".

"You sure you don't want to prank these jerks?" Hikaru asked Akira one more time.

When Akira nodded, Hikaru crossed his arms petulantly, but didn't push it.

"As I was saying," Akira continued calmly. "I don't regret joining the go club. I might not have made friends like I wanted, but I learned something valuable."

"If this is something about being bullied, Touya, I'll go beat—"

"Not that." Akira cut in with a glare.

Hikaru huffed, and kept pouting.

Akira let him pout. And while he was waiting, Akira glanced through the menu again.

"So what did you learn?" Hikaru asked curiously.

Akira closed and set down the menu. While he had always been reluctant to make this decision in the past, he knew now that he was sure.

"I learned that I'm finally ready."

Hikaru blinked.

"For what?" asked Hikaru.

"For the examination." Akira answered determinedly. "I'm going to become a professional go player."

Hikaru's eyes nearly boggled out of his head.

"WHOA! Touya, that's great!" Hikaru cheered excitedly.

Akira couldn't help but relax after hearing Hikaru's positive reaction to the idea. Old insecurities died hard, he supposed.

"The examination starts in the summer." Akira went on to explain. "And since I'll have to prepare for the pro exam, I'm going to resign from the go club."

"Oh, they're jerks anyway." Hikaru waved the club off. "You don't need to help them win tournaments."

"Well, not all of them are bad." Akira tried to be fair, though it was kind of true that Akira wouldn't really be missing anyone in particular from the Kaio Go Club.

Akira picked up the menu again, this time certain of another thing.

"But we should get a little 'revenge', right?"

Hikaru was almost sure his face would break in half from grinning too much.

* * *

Kishimoto Kaoru, president of the Kaio Go Club, was just about to wind down the festivities when their waitress and the hostess came up carrying a large cake between them.

"We didn't order a cake." Kishimoto told them as the large frosted pastry was set down onto the table in front of him.

The cake was definitely theirs though. It read "Congratulations, Kaio Go Club" across the top.

"Another guest requested this be brought to you." Their waitress informed him with a cheery grin.

"Which guest?" Kishimoto asked in confusion.

The two women just looked at one another and then turned towards somewhere behind them.

Touya Akira arrived at the table with a pleasant smile on his face. On one hand, a couple of the members at least looked ashamed for having never shown up to help Akira clean the go stones. On the other, a few glared at Touya Akira for having shown up at all.

"This is from me, Kishimoto-sempai." Akira announced.

He thanked the two ladies for helping him, and they departed with gushing comments about how "cute" and "adorable" he was. Akira blushed lightly in embarrassment.

Hikaru didn't even care about how embarrassed Touya was. He was only there for moral support. Though, he couldn't help the diabolical smile on his face.

"Any reason why you bought us a cake, Touya?" Hidaka Yuri asked in wry amusement from her table.

"To congratulate Kaio Go Club on winning the Spring Junior High Go Tournament." Akira responded easily. "And also to thank you, Kishimoto-sempai, Hidaka-sempai, for your guidance and support during my time as a member of the Kaio Go Club."

"I will be giving my formal resignation to Yun-sensei on Monday," Akira announced. "In order to prepare for the professional examination this summer."

Everyone in the Kaio Go Club just stared as Akira completed a polite, courteous bow to their club president and another in Hidaka Yuri's direction. If they had been surprised when Touya had shown up, they were shocked into catatonic states at his announcement.

"Well, your time with us has been short," Hidaka Yuri stood up, casting a glance at a few certain people. "But we'll be supporting you. Good luck, Touya."

At this prompting, the ever-composed Kishimoto Kaoru announced his support as well.

"I'll be awaiting the good news of your becoming a professional go player."

Akira nodded, and bowed one last time.

"Please enjoy the cake."

With that, Akira turned and left. No one invited him to stay, and he had no one else from the club he wished to bid farewell. But actually, Akira was kind of glad there wouldn't be any sugary declarations of wishing they had been better friends and endless questions about the pro exam.

This was how he wanted to leave it, formally and courteously.

Meanwhile, Hikaru waved goodbye to the Kaio Go Club from behind Akira. He really wished he could be there when those jerks bit into the cake and realized that it was one of those gross, awful cakes that was supposed to be "healthy".

After all, Kaio Go Club shouldn't enjoy Touya Akira's leaving too much.

…

**Author's Notes:**

Well, Hikaru wanted revenge, but Akira's a super nice guy (mostly). I had actually intended this chapter to be full of water balloons too.

Also, there is no omake for this arc. The next chapter is pretty much a super omake.


End file.
